


Indemnity

by katydid3145



Series: Remittance Series [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 88,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7770001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katydid3145/pseuds/katydid3145
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was only one universal truth to a thief. Never love anything. Because once you truly loved something, the moment you thought something belonged to you, that it would always be there...</p>
<p>Someone was going to take it from you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When people spoke of the art capitols of the world, it was always Paris…Rome…New York. Those were the cities that sat at the pinnacle for most. In art school, most of his classmates had spent a summer or two abroad in Paris. They came back, stating that there was no more inspiring a place than the City of Light.

Roy had nothing against those cities. They were impressive in their scale, and in their collection of historical artworks. He had visited each, numerous times over the years. But he never truly felt inspired by them. He didn't know why.

For Roy, the most inspiring city in the world was Prague. There was something about the city that spoke to him. He almost felt like the city understood him in a way that nowhere else had before. He felt more connected to the artists, the architecture, the night life. If he had to choose one place to live in for the rest of his life, it would always be there

That didn't mean he hadn't made a few stops along the way.

Two months ago he had been in Paris. Touring the Louvre, walking along the Seine, sitting in coffee shops and sketching in his notebook. All the things that artist did when they visited that great city.

Of course, he had been doing those things as part of a heist with Shawna and Lisa. No one looked twice at one more artist in the city. He could sit in front of the bank they were casing for hours and no one questioned him. Just another artist inspired by the city, by all the beauty around him.

Of course, becoming a cliché had paid off handsomely. Between the three of them, they walked away with a couple hundred thousand a piece. It had been a relatively simple job. One they could have done with minimal planning and without the use of their powers.

Honestly, Lisa's plan should have taken roughly three days to put into motion. It ended up being closer to three weeks. They kept getting distracted. They would go over the blue prints for five minutes, then spend the next few hours talking about what was happening back in Central City. Whether anyone had heard from Digger. How Axel was fitting in with the other Rogues.

Roy was able to admit that the actual heist was just an excuse to meet up with them again. Shawna had been out of Central for almost four months by that point. Traveling the world on her own. She had seemed genuinely happy to see both Roy and Lisa.

She had spent the first few days telling them about everywhere she had been. Showing them the list of countries she had knocked off. Where she had pulled a few heists.

"I swear man, if Central doesn't work out, we should all pick up and move to the Netherlands. It was so beautiful. And their security was like ten years behind what we have in Central now. They barely know what metahumans are. I think one security dude thought I was a witch or something, started crossing himself."

Lisa and Shawna had traded stories over who had stolen the most jewelry in the past few months. Roy had to admit the amount of gold jewelry Lisa had in her luggage was impressive.

Lisa had just laughed it off. Saying that stealing jewelry was the easiest way to make money. Even if you never sold it. Wearing expensive jewelry opened all kinds of other doors.

"I'm telling you Shawna. Stop breaking into banks. The easiest marks are the ones that invite you inside. I was at this gala a few weeks back in Rome and I was able to snatch most of these right off the necks and wrists of heiresses and socialites. Most won't even notice they are missing. Tell you what, you and I are going to buy some new dresses tomorrow, then we are going to find a fundraiser or something and we can work on your slight of hand. Have you been working on…"

"Making just parts of myself go sort of incorporeal without actually teleporting anywhere? A little bit, but it's been slow going. It's like, once I try to use my powers, my body knows that means I need to get away. So my whole body just jumps."

"Well, we can always do it the old fashioned way. Nothing like a pretty smile and plunging neckline to distract some creepy old man long enough to steal his wallet."

Roy had been content to sit and listen to them, painting the Paris skyline from the luxury apartment Lisa had managed to get for them. It was opulent, so much so that Roy almost wanted to lecture Lisa on wasting so much money on an apartment.

Even with all the money she had now, Roy doubted that Lisa had to pay for this room.

A friend of a friend had lent her the keys, she had said with a wink.

Roy didn't turn away from the painting. Watching the flickering lights outside the window. Trying to capture the movement of the city with his brush strokes.

"I could use a new watch."

Lisa had slipped off the bed and came to stand behind Roy. She put an arm around his shoulders.

"Well, why didn't you say so Roy? Gold or silver?"

"Not like I will be able to tell the difference."

Shawna leaned back on the bed, kicking off her shoes. He imagined those sheets must cost more than most people spent on a new tv.

"Definitely silver, that's more your style. Anything else when we are out? I'm sure the old guys at the party will have all kinds of fun things to take. New top hat? Oh, no wait, a monocle!"

Roy smirked.

"I think I'm good."

The girls had gone out the next night. They were only gone for approximately two hours. They brought back seven different watches for him to choose from. And two men's winter jackets, both roughly his size. Roy wasn't sure how they knew his size, but wasn't going to question it. It was going to be cold in Prague while he was there. They had dozens of women's watches and bracelets as well. All spread out over the bed, he couldn't imagine how they had managed to take so much without being seen.

Shawna dropped a monocle into his hand. Roy had smiled at the ridiculousness of it.

"I don't even want to know how you got this."

"Oh. It's a pretty good story. Though we might have had to pull a page from Mick's book."

"You started a fire to steal me a monocle."

"A small fire. And it was just the distraction so we could walk out with our take. I just happened to see a dude with a monocle on the way out and couldn't resist. I mean…come on. Who still has a monocle? Dude was basically the Monopoly mascot. He was asking for his shit to get stolen, wearing something like that."

Lisa had pulled the three of them into, at least on Roy's part, a very reluctant selfie. She texted it to Cold back in Central. The man still insisting that they check in every week, no matter where they were. And no cell service was not a valid excuse to miss a check in. As Shawna had learned when she was in Ireland.

"I'm chilling in this pub in the middle of freaking nowhere and this old man walks up to me and is like…are you Shawna? I thought he knew me from the news or something but he just shoved a freaking rotary telephone at me and Cold was on the other line. How the hell does he do that? I mean, how did he know where I was?"

"Oh don't get me started on Lenny being able to find someone. Imagine being sixteen and trying to sneak off with your boyfriend…"

Roy had stayed relatively up to date on what was happening in Central since he had left. Hartley and Mark he texted rather frequently. Usually just pictures of things he was planning on stealing or some interesting art he thought Hartley might appreciate.

And then there was Axel.

Who had a tendency to live-tweet Rogue heists.

Roy had never understood the social media craze that most people were enthralled with. Being a wanted criminal usually meant not doing anything that could lead the cops to your location. Keeping off of the radar and out of the public eye.

Axel had apparently decided to take the opposite approach.

In the past month Roy had learned the difference between Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat.

All words which would have been completely meaningless to him very recently. And he might have continued to ignore Axel's self aggrandizing posts on the various media outlets. Until Hartley had sent Roy a video of a recent heist.

Axel had somehow managed to convince nearly two hundred of his followers to show up to a bank robbery and do a flash mob performance of Smooth Criminal.

In the middle of the street.

Completely blocking the cops from being able to pursue the Rogues.

Roy had been following the kid on Twitter ever since.

Roy was certain Cold would find the kid's antics infuriating.

"Oh I thought Lenny was going to freeze the kid on the spot when he realized the cops had shown up 30 seconds early because Axel had posted a photo of the bank during one of the first jobs he was a part of. Mick somehow managed to talk Len out of it."

"I can't believe that Mick Rory is being the level headed one."

"Apparently he thinks the kid has potential. And Mick is rarely wrong about that. Figures if Axel lives long enough, he might grow out of this psycho murderer phase Jesse tried to mold into him."

Shawna had left before Axel had even healed from his wounds. So she didn't really have an opinion on the newcomer. Although she did have a tendency to scowl when his name was brought up. Walker had almost killed her with a bomb at Jesse's rally.

Roy hadn't spent much time with Walker either. The kid had been skittish at first. Which was understandable. Roy had spent most of his first few weeks with the Rogues watching his back. Waiting for one of the others to stab him the second he dropped his guard.

Not to mention the kid was still dealing with the fact that Jesse wasn't his father. Axel had latched onto the idea of someone caring about him so fiercely, he had broken the man out of a maximum security prison. Had poisoned an entire room full of people. Had dropped bombs on school kids.

All because he thought he had found his real family.

Because he thought his father had loved him.

It was that kind of unquestioning, unbridled loyalty that Jesse had exploited. And it was going to be hard to convince the kid that anyone would ever be truly loyal to him. That the Rogues, while also being criminals, weren't the same as Jesse.

They meant it when they said they had his back.

As long as he had theirs.

And he followed the rules.

Which, Roy was slightly uneasy with the thought of. He wasn't sure Axel would ever follow any sort of rules laid out. The kid thrived on anarchy, on the spectacle of it all. On the thrill of the gunshots and the sirens blaring.

Course the same could have been said for Digger. And up until his betrayal, the man had actually followed the rules.

"Any word from..."

"Nothing. Although Lenny doesn't seem too worried about it yet. If another couple months go by and we still haven't heard anything, then he'll pull out all the stops. Find our resident creeper wherever he might be hiding."

Roy had nodded at Lisa's words. It made sense. Roy didn't know how much time it would take Digger to relocate Owen and his family. Didn't want to go looking for them only to lead someone else to the trail. They would just have to wait and see if Digger popped up again.

Roy left a little under two months after Shawna had. Once Hartley was completely healed and Mark was back to being a pain the ass.

Hartley had spent most of his time during recovery working on different projects in his room. The kid had been bed ridden for weeks, which caused his already short temper to flare out. Roy had walked into Hartley's room and almost been beamed in the head by some sort of mechanical device.

Hartley hadn't apologized, just glared at Roy like it was his fault that what he had built wasn't working.

Roy bent over and picked up the…glasses?

"You planning on shooting sound waves out of your eyes? That seems dangerous."

Hartley had huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Obviously not. They aren't for me."

"Ah. These the ones for Shawna that…"

"No. Look just…never mind alright. It's pointless. It's just something I have been working on in my spare time for the past year or so and I'm no closer than I was then."

Roy turned the glasses over in his hand. They looked like ordinary sunglasses, similar to the ones Roy normally wore. But the lenses clearly weren't made of regular glass. And there was some kind of strange electrical wire surrounding them that lead to a small battery on the back left earpiece. The right earpiece had a button on it.

"Who are these for then?"

Hartley rolled his eyes again.

"They were for you. But biology is not my area of expertise and even though I have tried every single permeation in the visible spectrum and some in the non-visible I have been able to overcome the ocular…"

"You made me glasses."

"Yes."

"To…"

"They don't work."

Roy looked at Hartley. Kid was avoiding his gaze. Angrily pulling at some pieces of wire attached to his computer. Roy glanced at the hearing aids in Hartley's ears. The ones he had created for himself.

Ah.

"You were trying to cure my color blindness?"

Roy was…incredibly touched.

"Kid…"

"Yes, I know. I shouldn't have said anything. Believe me, I know there is nothing worse than some asshole telling you they are going to make you better and then failing spectacularly. I didn't want to give you false hope in case it couldn't be done, which clearly…" Hartley trailed off. Waving at hand at the glasses in Roy's hands.

Roy looked closer at it. Hartley had spent how many countless hours trying to find a way to allow Roy to see in color. Roy didn't know how to respond to something like that.

"Why would you…"

"I…owed you."

Roy knew that Hartley meant something entirely different than what he had actually said. Maybe he had started out working on this as a way to pay Roy back for some act that Roy had done. Though what the kid could be referring to, Roy wasn't sure.

Everything was square between them. Always had been.

So Roy just took the glasses and handed them back to Hartley. The young genius took them back hesitantly.

"While I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think glasses that allow me to see in color would work very well on the job. Especially if I can't use my powers with them on."

Hartley raised an eyebrow.

"You have something else in mind?"

"Well…it is rather inconvenient that I have to look someone directly in the eye in order to influence them. And I can really only do it one at a time. Sure if people are standing in a row I can hit them all at once. My powers are mostly defensive. But maybe if there was a way to amplify my powers, maybe if the glasses could refract them somehow into…"

"A beam of condensed energy. It could magnify your power, then focus it in a beam that could cover a wide area…You might not even have to hit them in the eyes, if the beam was strong enough. The emotional wave would hit them and they would have to react. Although that could decrease the intensity of the emotions and your ability to…"

Hartley was already writing notes down on his laptop. Changing and adding designs so quickly Roy could barely follow what he was saying.

Roy had walked out of the room when it was clear to him that Hartley was no longer aware that Roy was still there. Roy wasn't even sure if what he had suggested was possible. He had simply wanted to give Piper something else to focus on, to not think that he was failing Roy by not fixing his colorblindness.

Being colorblind was something Roy had come to terms with years ago. With only minor resentments still lingering.

Maybe slightly more than minor, but that was his problem.

Not Hartley's.

Hartley was still working on the glasses when Roy had left Central. Promising him they would be working by the time Roy got back from his "little sabbatical."

Roy had stayed in the US for a little while, before booking a flight to Europe. He hadn't lingered for long in London, the city had never really appealed to him.

Maybe it was just that he didn't like all the rain.

Once the heist with Lisa and Shawna was done, Roy took the money and bought himself an apartment in Prague. Lisa had said she was off to Venice, and Shawna had mentioned something about China.

For the past two months had been painting, walking the old streets, and breathing in the city around him. He spent most of his days, and his money, working on his craft. Living the sort of life that he had always dreamed off back in art school. So the money he had didn't come from his paintings, didn't mean he didn't still deserve it. He just considered the money they stole as donations from wealthy benefactors.

In the four months since he had left Central, he hadn't had to use his powers. Which was both odd and somewhat strangely comforting. He was just another artist in Prague. Or just another thief in Paris. No one looked at him as anything else.

Not that he didn't miss the excitement of Central City. But it was good to get away for a while. To spend some of that money they had been accumulating. To breathe in a world outside of the one that had become familiar.

Which wasn't to say he had forgotten what he was. He was still a meta human, still a criminal, still wanted by several government agencies. He may occasionally let his guard down when he was alone in his apartment. But never when he was in public, no matter how innocuous the situation.

He was sitting at his regular café, drinking an espresso and casually checking Axel's twitter feed, when he felt a familiar sensation at the back of his neck.

He was being watched.

He made no outward signs, simply continued to drink his coffee. When he finished, he stood and casually headed in the opposite direction of his apartment. There was an art museum only a few blocks from here. One he liked to frequent, there would be no reason for anyone to doubt that he would want to go there.

He walked slowly, as though he was completely unaware that there were now two men following him.

They were dressed like tourists, both in their late twenties or early thirties. They even had street maps in their hands. But Roy knew the truth. He had been a criminal long enough to be able to spot a tail.

Roy stopped walking, pretending to look at something in a nearby convenience store window. The two men stopped as well, taking a photo of a nearby cathedral. Roy discreetly took a quick photo of the two men and sent it to Hartley.

_Being followed. Not local. ARGUS?_

Cold had warned them all to be extra cautious if they thought they had been spotted. Roy could tell these weren't city cops who had simply happened to see an international criminal.

These were professionals.

Roy's phone buzzed.

_Running it now. Get somewhere with security cameras so I can track you._

Roy ducked into the museum. If Roy needed a quick extraction, Hartley could forward the video from the security cameras to Shawna's phone. If she was too far away, he would provide her with some live streams of countries along the way. Then she could quickly pop in for the save.

Roy looked behind him, pretending to admire a statue in the lobby.

Huh.

The men were gone.

Roy could see them through the glass entrance doors, they had walked by without glancing in his direction.

Roy's phone buzzed again.

_Not ARGUS. Stay there, I'll check a few more databases_

Roy wandered further into the museum, keeping himself in clear sight of the security cameras.

A text from Shawna arrived a few minutes later.

_Need a lift?_

He responded quickly. Well, as quickly as he was able to text. It still irked him when he didn't use proper punctuation, but in the interest of time…

_Probably not might have been nothing_

_Nice jacket_

Roy looked up at a security camera and smirked.

It was the jacket Shawna had stolen for him in Paris. Said it made him look like all the other fancy artists.

Roy wandered aimlessly through the museum. Passing through the different wings slowly. He examined several of the more interesting pieces for longer than most people would. He wanted to examine the brush strokes, he wanted to see where the technique bled into the creativity of the artist.

He was standing in a room filled with modern art when his phone buzzed once more.

_Facial recognition came up with nothing. They still following?_

_Havent seen them_

_They aren't on any of the security cameras. Looks like you are clear._

_Thanks Hart_

Roy quickly sent Shawna a message.

_False alarm, sorry_

_Don't be, pretty sweet museum. Pick me up something pretty._

Roy looked around. He was surrounded by statues, most of which weighed considerably more than he would be able to lift.

_Doubt I can sneak out of here with a statue_

_What about the one on your left with the people and the boat?_

Roy glanced to his left, it was a painting of a field of flowers. People and the boat? What the hell was Shawna looking at?

_Boat?_

_Yea, the sinking one_

Roy stopped walking suddenly, he called Shawna. She answered with an amused tone.

"You know Roy if you want…"

"Do you see me talking to you on the phone?"

"What…oh. Shit, Roy…"

Roy hung up. He dialed Hartley's number. His heart beating rapidly in chest. His instinct were screaming at him to just start running.

The painting of the boat was two hallways back.

"Yes?"

"The security cameras are on a ten minute delay."

"What? Hold on I…"

The call was cut off abruptly.

Roy looked down at his phone but it showed no cell service.

Suddenly, all the lights in the museum went out. None of the standard back ups or emergency lights came on.

It was complete darkness.

Roy felt a hand cover his mouth and a needle was jammed into his neck.

Roy tried to struggle, tried to fight, but his arms began to feel weak. He was having trouble staying on his feet.

He felt rough hands grasp his arms and start to pull him away.

He had to escape. He had to get away quickly before whatever drugs they injected him with took their toll.

He could feel his body turning against him. He activated his powers, it was almost pitch black in the museum, but they were headed for an exit. He would have to hit anyone he saw with rage, hoping the distraction would be enough for him to get away.

The men who grabbed him dragged him through the door. He saw them flash badges at the security guards. He hadn't been in the country long enough to have fully learned the language, but he recognized one word.

Thief.

His powers were weakening, he didn't know if he would be able to effect anyone. He had to try.

He locked eyes with almost a dozen people.

None of them reacted to his powers.

How...he could feel his powers activating. His eyes should be glowing red...why weren't…

"Don't worry Mr. Bivolo, this will all be over soon."

Damn it. He was starting lose focus. His vision was blurring at the edges. He jerked his arm one way, quickly trying to grasp the gun he could see in his captor's jacket. Roy wouldn't have time to pull the gun, he just wrapped his hand around the trigger and pulled.

The sound of the gunshot startled the crowd gathering outside the museum.

The man fell to the ground, grabbing at his leg where the bullet had entered. Roy wrenched his arm away from the remaining captor and tried to run.

He heard several more gunshots, but Roy kept running. He didn't turn, didn't try to see if the men were following him.

He just had to get away.

He managed to slip down an alleyway, past a point where he knew several of the homeless of the city liked to congregate.

He was having trouble breathing. The drugs he had been injected with were catching up with him. He hadn't made it nearly far enough. He had to keep moving.

He stumbled and hit the ground.

He tried to get up, but his arms and legs didn't respond.

He turned his head, trying to see if they were right behind him.

That's when he noticed the trail of blood on the ground.

Huh.

He looked at his chest, there was a large blood stain seeping through his shirt.

Damn.

His jacket was ruined.

Shawna would be upset.

Which was an odd thing to think about when you were bleeding to death in an alley. But it seemed to be a legitimate concern in his mind.

Bastards must have shot him in the back when he tried to run.

He couldn't move his arms to try and stop the bleeding. Couldn't try to escape. Couldn't even attempt to defend himself.

He heard footsteps. At some point he had closed his eyes, and was now oddly unable to open them again.

He felt a hand pull open his jacket.

Rummaging through his pockets.

If he still had the energy, he might have laughed. He was being robbed.

They took his shoes.

His head knocked hard against the street as his jacket was forcibly removed.

His phone was probably gone as well. Not that he would be able to call anyone, Hartley would have told the others by now what had happened. Would they be headed to Prague? Trying to find him, trying to rescue him. Only to find him dead in some lonesome alleyway.

It was almost poetic he supposed.

A thief, robbed in the last moments of his life.

Whatever the drugs were, they apparently hadn't been meant to knock him out. Just keep him docile, keep his powers down.

The blood loss on the other hand, was starting to be a problem. His limbs were so heavy. The pain was creeping up his spine.

He felt hands on him again.

Too late, they already took everything, he wanted to tell the new interloper. He barely got the thought out before a sharp pain laced up his side. He might have cried out.

He didn't know. Someone had picked him up.

He was being carried. There was a distinctly sharp shoulder digging into his stomach. Each step the man took was causing the bullet wound to jar.

Roy felt like throwing up.

If the person was rescuing him, he would feel truly bad about it. Throwing up on a person who saves your life, seemed like bad form.

But if it was one of the people who shot him, and were now taking him to where ever they were trying to kidnap him in the first place, well that was a different story all together.

He could hear sounds, words would fade in and out, though he couldn't ever seem to grasp them. At one point he was put down on a flat surface.

He was trying to figure out where he was based on the smells and sounds around him.

When suddenly someone drove something sharp into his wound.

He finally, blissfully, passed out.

 

* * *

 

"The security cameras are on a ten minute delay."

"What? Hold on I should be able to...Roy? Roy can you hear me?"

The screens went completely black. Which wasn't possible. Hartley had taken full control of the security system when he had hacked in. The alarms, the cameras, hell even the locks on the safe in the gift shop were supposed to be under his control. He furiously typed on the computer, trying to regain control, trying to see who had hacked in under his nose.

He couldn't find any signs that anyone else was attempting to take control of the system.

This shouldn't be happening.

"This shouldn't be happening."

Hartley wasn't in Central City, he couldn't just yell out to the others that something was wrong. He had taken a trip to Starling or Star or whatever nonsense they were calling it now. Palmer Industries was doing a presentation on some new sonic emitters they were testing and Hartley was going to go and scoff at the design. Their plans were at least five years behind what Hartley would be able to create.

But Palmer was going around saying they were the latest technology. A complete breakthrough in the field.

Which is why he had decided to come to the expo. Maybe he could cause some internal feedback that would shatter a few ear drums, make it look like a design flaw. Drop the stock of the company a few points, make them lose a few million dollars.

That would teach them to reject his job application from a few years back.

All thoughts of the expo were completely gone from his mind. He had come back to his hotel room after getting the first text from Roy. He kept trying, kept trying to locate…

No.

His own screen went black.

He was locked out of his own computer. Someone had hacked him directly. They would know exactly where he was.

Hartley didn't hesitate. He left the laptop and ran to the door.

Almost running right into the two men in suits in the hallway.

One had a needle in his hands.

Hartley shot a quick sonic blast at them and headed for the stairs. He raced down, he didn't know how many agents there were. This was a coordinated attack, if they were trying to get Roy in Prague…

They were trying to get all of them at once.

Cold, Axel and Mardon were still in Central. Lisa was in Rio? Or Rome. He couldn't remember. Shawna was in China. Hartley knew Mick had left Central two days ago, saying something about heading for California for a bit.

There were a bunch of wildfires happening, Cold figured no one would notice if Mick slipped in and set a few more.

Shit. They were too spread out. The cops must have waited until the Rogues were divided before making a move like this.

Hartley made it to the lobby. He pulled out his cell phone.

No cell service.

What the hell? He was in the middle of Star City, how was there no cell service?

Hartley ditched his phone. His best chance was to get back into the expo, there were thousands of people over there. He could get lost in the crowd. Hell even if he was spotted, it would be better than being caught by…

Hartley saw a reflection of the two men in the glass in front of him, he ducked just as a bullet shattered the glass.

Apparently whoever they were, they didn't care about being subtle.

Fine.

Two could play that game.

Hartley turned and used the full power of his gauntlets to knock the men backwards. He turned and ran across the road to the expo, quickly hiding himself behind a particularly large exhibit.

Security was swarming everywhere. There was no way he was going to be able to hide for very long. If those agents in the suits were working with security, they would be able to shut down the building. Lock all the doors. Then the Arrow and his little gang would end up sticking their nose where it didn't belong.

He needed to...seriously?

Hartley spotted Cisco talking to a blond woman near the entrance to the main auditorium. Hartley considered his options. He was alone, cut off from the other Rogues, and being hunted by some unknown force.

Desperate times and all that.

Hartley slowly made his way towards Cisco. Two men in suits came up behind Cisco and the blond woman, who Hartley was now able to determine was Felicity Smoak.

Hartley pushed down his irritation at the idea that Cisco knew so many high profile people in the field of science, and continued forward.

The men in suits must have been bodyguards, because the started to herd Cisco and Smoak towards the exit. Hartley kept his eyes open, looking for any sign of the men that had been pursuing him. He quickly followed Cisco out the side door. He was barely through when he saw the one of the body guards pull a needle out of his jacket.

Hartley hit both of the guards with sonic blasts.

"Hartley? What the hell man…"

"I don't have time to explain…"

Felicity Smoak was suddenly pointing a gun in his face.

"You're Hartley Rathaway."

"Yes…"

"You graduated top of your class."

"Is this a job interview…"

"Now you're a criminal."

Hartley smirked.

"Technically so are you, unless of course vigilantism has suddenly become legal in Starling. Though considering the state of your city I wouldn't be surprised."

Felicity lowered the gun.

Cisco took a slow step between them.

"Look, this is super fun and all but if you are going to rob us or whatever other ridiculous plan…"

"Please, like I would ever be so desperate as to rob you Cisco. I doubt there is a market for vintage sci-fi t-shirts on the black market."

"Hey…you don't know. People love Lost in Space."

Hartley rolled his eyes, seriously reconsidering this entire plan.

He bent down and picked up the syringe from the hand of the guard.

"Thirty minutes ago, Roy texted to say he was being followed. I wasn't able to find any information on the men following him. Then I lost contact with Roy and with Shawna. My computer was hacked, without me knowing it. I haven't been able to contact any of the other Rogues, but seeing as two men carrying a syringe like this tried to take me from my hotel room. I would say this is some kind of coordinated attack. Although why they would go after you…."

Cisco shared a quick look with Felicity.

Oh you have to be kidding me.

"You're a metahuman."

"Whaaaaaaaaat. I mean…I…I am yes."

Smoak took a small step in front of Cisco.

"You think they're targeting metahumans?"

"That always seems to be the case doesn't it. They must know that the Rogues are a package deal and tried to take all of us at once regardless of…"

The two men from the hotel came around the corner.

"Down!"

Hartley shot sonic blasts towards the men, one of whom was thrown into the wall. The other shot Hartley in the shoulder.

Hartley hit the ground, grasping at the wound.

Felicity aimed her gun and started firing back. Hartley felt Cisco grab his uninjured shoulder and pull him up.

They ran to a nearby car, Cisco driving them away as Felicity continued to cover their escape.

Hartley must have lost consciousness at some point because the next time he opened his eyes he was in a very nice apartment over looking the city.

The Flash was standing in the middle of the room, talking quietly to Cisco.

"Hey man!"

Hartley tried to ignore the false cheer in Cisco's voice. He turned towards the Flash.

"Well?"

The Flash opened his mouth for a moment, as if hesitating on what to tell Hartley. Hartley wondered if the old adage about your eyes getting stuck if you rolled them too much was true.

"I assume Cisco here told you what I told him and that you checked in with the Rogues in Central or you wouldn't have sped over here."

"Hartley…"

There was hesitation in the Flash's voice. Hartley covered up his fear at the sound with irritation.

"Are you going to answer or just waste all of our time…"

"The Rogues are gone."

Hartley took a moment to stare at the Flash. The Flash seemed to catch what he had said.

"I mean! They aren't dead. I don't think…"

"So they found another safe house and…"

"We tracked the cold gun to a safe house on Millner. It looked like there had been a fight. I…The cold gun was still there. But Snart wasn't."

Cold would never leave his gun behind. There was nothing that would make him part with his weapon.

"Mardon and Axel would have…."

Cisco took a step forward.

"You were right. It wasn't just the Rogues. Someone broke into the pipeline and took every metahuman."

"Clearly they didn't go after every meta." Hartley leveled a glare at the Flash.

"Hey what the hell are you…"

"Just seems convenient that no one came for you Flash."

"I had nothing to do with this. Someone tried to take Cisco!"

"How lucky he got away."

"Look Rathaway. I didn't have anything to do with this. I want to find the missing meta humans. And the Rogues. Because as much as you assholes annoy me, clearly something far worse is going on. So can you put your ego aside for one second and help us figure out what is going on and who is behind this?"

Hartley considered another retort. Considered antagonizing the Flash and Cisco further. Until he saw Snart's cold gun on the table behind the Flash.

Hartley didn't want to think about what these people would have had to do to Snart to make him leave that behind.

To be able to overpower Mardon.

To coordinate an attack against every known meta…

"Do you know of any other metas? Is there anyone else that has been taken?"

Flash shared a look with Cisco.

"Look you asked for my help and I'm helping. We need to see if there was a pattern. Cross reference who they took with any other missing persons reported over the next few days. If they are smart, they wouldn't just take metas. That would be too obvious, so they are probably going to grab a bunch of random schmucks as well. If we can track when and where people were taken..."

"Maybe we can triangulate some kind of central position. See if they are moved somewhere in some kind of general direction."

Cisco was already pulling up a laptop for Hartley to use.

Hartley tried to pull up the security footage from the museum where Roy had been taken.

It was gone.

"What the...they've managed to delete the security footage from Prague."

Cisco looked up from his own laptop.

"Not just that. The hotel security and the expo security systems have all been wiped clean. I can't even find a signature that shows the data ever existed at all. How the hell are they doing this?"

Hartley didn't have an answer for that.

Which really pissed him off.

"Give me your phone."

"What?"

Hartley snapped his fingers at Cisco.

"Your phone."

"Alright, geez. Glad to see your crime bros have been teaching you manners."

"My criminal friends might be exactly how we find out what is happening."

"What do you mean?"

"Axel Walker. The guy never does anything without taking a video or checking in or..."

Cisco had Axel's Twitter account already in his phone, which wasn't a surprise. Hartley was certain the Flash would try to use Axel's tendency to over share as a way to find out where the Rogues were going to hit next.

Plus Axel was, when not trying to blow up small children, genuinely funny.

Hartley looked at the message on Cisco's phone. He reread it a dozen times and still couldn't comprehend what he was seeing.

This account has been deleted.

Cisco looked over Hartley's shoulder.

"He deleted his account?"

"Axel would rip off his left arm before he would delete his Twitter account."

"Ok. This is starting to get seriously freaky."

Hartley spent a week recovering in what he later found out was a high rise belonging to Ray Palmer. Recovering from his injury and searching for any sign of the Rogues. The more he searched, the less he found. He couldn't understand how this could have happened. No one is this good. No one could hack this many systems and not leave a single trace.

He thought about the safe house in Kansas City. The one the Rogues were supposed to go to if shit ever hit the fan. He kept telling himself that he would leave tomorrow. Sneak out of the high rise, head there, meet up with whoever else managed to escape, and then take care of their enemies.

But…he couldn't be sure any of the others would be there. And Cisco, Caitlin, and the Flash were here. They had access to all of Palmer and Smoak technologies. Not to mention, Hartley was fairly confident, secret ARGUS satellites as well.

The safe house in Kansas City might not even have wifi.

…It…it made more sense for him to stay here. At least at the moment. He could find more information this way. He would be better prepared to help out the rest of the Rogues if he knew what they were facing.

It wasn't like the others would be any good at this kind of thing anyway. The only other person passably good with technology was Axel. And he had the attention span of a bunny rabbit hopped up on pixie sticks and speed.

Hartley needed to focus. He couldn't do that with Cold breathing down his neck or Mardon threatening to kill the whole city with a tornado if things weren't going his way. Whoever they were up against was the best hacker Hartley had ever seen. He couldn't even begin to understand how they had managed to attack so many systems simultaneously.

He needed more information. And, sure, Cisco was still completely annoying and immature, but he was, on occasion, able to make semi-coherent hypotheses about what was happening. And Caitlin had yet to screw up tending to his injured shoulder. She had even double-checked to make sure he hadn't aggravated any old injures. Which was her job of course.

And the Flash did provide a good enough distraction. Keeping Harltey's mind off of what could be happening to his missing comrades. He bolstered their security and helped them track some criminal activity back in Central and in Starling. It was just a way to keep his mind from getting stuck, from spinning his wheels when all his searches came up empty. That was all it was.

He was doing the smart thing here. He was using his resources to his advantage.

The others would understand that.

After he saved them.

They would understand.


	2. Chapter 2

When he woke, he was surprised to find himself in a hospital.

What he assumed to be a hospital at least. It didn't look like a government run secret facility. The sheets were slightly scratchy. There was a general hum of hospital noise, people walking by, machines beeping. He could hear a baby crying somewhere farther down the hall. He could still see Prague outside the window, at least he hadn't been taken out of the city.

A nurse entered.

"Ah, Mr. Green. You're awake."

Roy took a moment to look at the nurse. She wasn't being overtly friendly, just stating a fact. There were bags under her eyes, and she moved around the room in a quick fashion. Trying to get through her shift no doubt. So not likely to be someone trying to lull him into a false sense of security. Trying to make him think he was anywhere other than a hospital.

She had called him Mr. Green. Considering his wallet and phone had been stolen, he should have been listed as a John Doe. And she was speaking English to him.

Whoever had brought him in, had given him an alias. Roy tried to move and his side pulled. He put a hand there, as though he had no idea he was injured.

"Yes...I'm sorry. I'm not sure what happened."

"Of course, you lost quite a bit of blood. The police will be in to speak with you in a moment."

Roy kept his voice calm, but allowed a little bit of disbelief to color his words.

"The police. Why the police?"

"You were mugged Mr. Green. Some men attacked you in an alley and robbed you. You were stabbed during the attack."

Roy lightly touched the area where a large bandage was covering his abdomen. That was a surprise, considering he had been shot.

"Stabbed."

"Yes. Like I said the police want to speak with you..."

"How did I get here?"

"Your friend, Mr. Bumarit brought you in. I believe he has already spoken to the police. He just left an hour ago, said he was going to head back to your apartment. Get you a change of clothes."

Mr. Bumarit.

Son of a bitch.

Digger.

None of them had heard from Digger in over six months. What the hell was he doing in Prague? How had he found Roy?

Digger must have been the one to give him the alias. The one to...that asshole stabbed him. Had to make it look like a mugging. Make it look like a stab wound. Otherwise the hospital would report it as a gunshot and whoever was looking for Roy would be able to find him.

Roy imagined that Digger had to pay off a few doctors as well to keep it quiet.

Roy didn't know if he was going to thank Digger for the save, or kill the son of a bitch.

"You think you can talk to the police?"

"Of course."

Two cops entered the room. They didn't appear to have any ulterior motive to interviewing him. They asked him the most basic of questions. What was he doing in the alley? Did he see his attackers? What items were stolen?

"I...had a watch, it was relatively knew. Silver. My wallet and cell phone. And a jacket. I don't know the brand it was a gift from a friend."

The cops had just nodded along. Apparently that alleyway was a haven for criminals.

"I didn't know. I just…I must have gotten turned around. Thought I could cut through there on my way home."

One of the cops, the one who spoke the best English, had stepped forward at that comment.

"We found a strange substance in your bloodstream. One the hospital hasn't been able to identify. Mr. Green, had you taken any sort of medication today?"

Medication. Well. Roy averted his eyes. On this, he needed to appear slightly guilty. Perhaps even contrite.

"No...It ummm, it wasn't medication." Roy rubbed at his neck where the needle had been injected. He remembered how his powers had sort of fizzled out without him knowing it. He would have to test them out later to see if they still worked.

The cops gave him a knowing look.

"Look we aren't here to bust you on a drug charge, we want to find the people that did this to you. Can you think of anything else about your attackers?"

Roy thought about the two men who had tried to grab him. About the other men that had herded him into the museum. They had wanted him there. Must have thought it would be simple enough to drag a known art thief out of a museum without arousing suspicion. He had sent a photo of the first two men to Hartley, surely the kid would have identified them by now. The Rogues would be able to track the men down and mete out any punishments necessary.

"No. I...I wasn't paying attention. That must have been how they managed to hit me from behind."

"Thank you Mr. Green. We will be back later for some follow up questions."

There was something in their tone. Something in the way they gave him one last look as they left.

They didn't believe him.

He could see it in their eyes. But they didn't have a choice. Why would an American tourist lie about being mugged?

Roy needed to get out of here before someone ran his fingerprints or recognized his photo from a wanted poster.

Roy waited until it was almost nightfall. Waited until he could barely hear anyone outside his door. He found the remains of his clothes. It was just his pants, folded in the small cabinet in the corner. They must have cut off his shirt. He put on the pants, and left on the scrub top. It would have to do for now.

He didn't figure Digger would come back to the hospital. The man had left, going back to Roy's apartment. He would probably be waiting there.

The security in the hospital was almost non existent. He didn't need to use his powers to escape. He was certain he was getting strange looks as he walked back to his apartment. His wound pulling and stretching with every step. Thankfully he was less than a mile away. By the time he got to his front door, he was sweating and breathing heavily.

He opened the door and almost collapsed in a chair. He lifted his eyes and looked around, there was no sign of Digger.

Just a note and a cell phone sitting on the table in front of him. He reached out and picked up the cell phone. The note was short, only a few lines. It took Roy several attempts to read it. His eyes were barely cooperating.

_Get out of the country. Don't call the others._

Roy looked at the phone for a moment. Every instinct in him was telling him to call Cold. To let the other Rogues know what had happened. That if he just called them, they would be able to figure out what happened. That he could be back in Central City by nightfall. Back somewhere safe, surrounded by people who had his back.

How did he even know this note was from Digger? The person who dropped him off might not have been the mercenary at all. Just someone leading Roy to believe that it was Digger. Roy was only passably familiar with Digger's handwriting. It could be from anyone.

There was something written on the back of the note. Roy flipped the piece of paper over.

_Don't be a twat._

Roy rolled his eyes. No longer any doubts in his mind that the note was from Digger.

It was true that Harkness was still technically a Rogue, that the kidnapping of his son had been the motivator for his betrayal. But...there was this lingering doubt. What if someone else had gotten ahold of Owen? What if when Digger went to put the kid back, he had gotten snatched up again?

Digger could be working for some one else now, using his skills and training to make Roy think that he could trust him. Maybe get Roy to lead him to the others.

Although…Digger knew where all the old safe houses were. Roy rubbed his eyes. The pain in his side was increasing with each moment, he should have stolen some pain pills on the way out of the hospital.

He looked at the note again.

Get out of the country. How the hell was he going to do that without his wallet? Roy glanced over to his bed and he saw a small backpack. He gingerly rose from his seat and sat down on the bed.

He pulled the pack open. There was cash, a fake passport with the name Mr. Green, and….a gun.

Roy laid down on the bed slowly, placing the gun just within his reach. He should probably get out of the country as soon as possible, but he was just so tired. He would just rest for a few minutes. Get his breath back, then he would head out.

When he opened his eyes again, it was daylight outside.

Shit.

Well, clearly the people looking for him hadn't found him yet. The pain in his back was throbbing. The backpack with the cash and papers was still beside him, he dug through it a little more and found a small bottle of pain killers at the bottom.

Huh.

Looks like Digger had really thought this through.

He put two pills in his hand...and hesitated for a moment. He had no idea what these pills were. Roy sighed and swallowed them. If someone was planning on taking Roy they could have done it in the, he glanced over at his clock...eleven hours he had been asleep.

He took a quick shower and changed into some clean clothes.

Roy stuffed the cash back into the backpack and the gun into his pants pocket. He looked around the apartment. He had really liked this one, thankfully most of his paintings were already stored elsewhere. He had learned long ago not to get too attached to any single place, odds were he wouldn't be there for long.

Still, he had bought this place outright. Everything about the purchase had been legal. So maybe someday he would be back.

He walked out the door and headed for the train station. He needed to get out of Prague, then he could try to get a flight back to the US. He would have to take a few detours, he couldn't fly straight into Central. That would be too suspicious.

The phone in his pocket still felt like a weight pulling at him. He should really call the others. Anything could have happened to them.

He supposed if he was trusting Digger this much, he was just going to have go all in. He tried to ignore the idea that the phone had a gps tracker in it, that someone was deliberately herding him towards something.

Again.

He was being paranoid.

Sure two men had tried to kidnap him two days ago. And he was following the instructions of an incredibly untrustworthy man he hadn't seen in six months. Since the last time said man had betrayed the Rogues. And he wasn't even entirely sure it was Digger that had saved him or left the messages.

But that was nothing to be paranoid about.

He made it to the train station without incident. He bought a ticket and sat in his private car. He locked the door and went to close the blinds of the window, when the phone in his pocket started ringing.

He pulled it out and answered.

"Hello?"

"Long time no see mate."

"Digger."

"Sorry bout all the cloak and dagger shit, had to see if you were still being followed."

"What is going on?"

"Not entirely sure. Haven't seen any bastards since the ones tried to take you. Got some leads I need to look into. The passport I got you should hold up. Altered your face in it a little so it won't hit on facial recognition software."

"Digger..." Roy looked out the window and saw Digger leaning against a wall. He wasn't wearing his usual trench coat, just a dark motorcycle jacket. The man turned his head and locked eyes with Roy.

"Don't try to call the others. Odds are, they're being tailed too. You got a place you could meet up with them? I'm sure Cold made you all pick a place."

When Roy had met up with Lisa and Shawna in Paris, they had met at a designated safe house. Cold had one picked out in every country.

"Yea...there's..."

"Don't tell me. Just go there. I gotta see if they got to anyone else yet. Can't waste time, chasing every Tom, Dick, and Harry that might've gotten taken."

"Wait what?"

"Whatever this is mate, it's bigger than just the Rogues they're after."

"Who?"

"Don't really know yet. Working on it though. Keep your head down, don't use your powers if you can avoid it. I think that's what they're after."

"Isn't it always…Did you stab me?"

Roy could see Digger give a small smirk at that.

"Sorry about that."

Roy found he didn't have it in him to hate Digger for stabbing him. He was just so relieved to see the mercenary. To know he wasn't alone in whatever this was.

"I'm sure."

"See you around mate."

Roy had hundreds of questions he needed answered, but he doubted Digger was going to give him any of them. It sounded like the mercenary didn't have too many answers at the moment. Or was trying to make sure if Roy got caught, he couldn't give away anything.

Harkness was the black ops expert. Roy would just have to trust the man's judgment. Which wasn't always the best of plans.

Roy sighed.

"Don't do anything too stupid."

Digger didn't respond. Just hung up the phone and gave a small wave. Roy waved back in return.

Roy closed the blinds as the train started to pull out of the station.

He laid down on the sleeper bed in the car, checking the bandage as best he could. He had become much better at learning how to take care of a wound in the past several years. Although he could have done without how he gained that knowledge.

Roy popped another pill and tried to find a comfortable position. He pulled out some food and juice from the bag and ate slowly.

Roy managed to stay awake most of the train ride. He switched trains twice before he made it to Paris. He thought about checking the safe house but decided against it. He didn't know if whoever that been following him knew about the jobs they had pulled here.

He caught a flight from Paris to London. Then bought a ticket to New York for three days from now and checked into a hotel in a shadier part of town. He waited a few hours, then caught a bus to Liverpool. He took a quick flight from Liverpool to Dublin then immediately booked a flight from Dublin to Orlando, Florida.

He hated flying into Florida. He never cared for the humidity, but it would be crowded with people. A larger airport, but one far enough from Central City that hopefully they wouldn't think to check for him there.

He hoped he had made enough false turns and dropped enough false leads to throw off the scent.

There was a safe house in Kansas City. One that Roy had never been to, but knew was sort of a back up. A place where Cold had only once told them about.

"We have to be prepared for the idea that Central might be too hot at times. That we might need to find a new place to lay low for awhile. There's an abandoned apartment complex in Kansas City. Far enough away that they won't think to look for us there, but close enough that we could get there in a hurry. This is for emergencies only. Don't go there unless you have nowhere else to go."

Cold had told Roy about it a few months prior to Roy leaving. Before everything with the Reverse Flash.

He just hoped he had remembered the address correctly.

Roy sat in his stolen car and watched the building. There were no lights on. No sign that anyone was inside. Which was entirely the point. Apparently the reason Cold had chosen this place was because of the extensive basement underneath. One that happened to link up to some old underground tunnels built during Prohibition.

Roy walked up to the apartment. Keeping the hood of his jacket up, and the sunglasses covering his face. He snuck inside. He couldn't hear any sounds from downstairs.

He crept down, pulling out the gun from his waistband. He pulled off his shades.

He thought he could hear music playing.

Roy peaked his head around the corner. He lowered the gun slightly but didn't drop it completely.

Axel.

The kid was sitting at a work bench, working on some kind of electrical device. There was a small pile of Mountain Dew cans around him, and bags of assorted chips and candy.

Roy raised his gun and walked forward.

The kid really needed to learn to pay more attention.

"Walker."

The kid jumped up with a start. Pulling his arm back, with something that looked like stink bombs in his hand.

"Holy shit dude, you almost gave me a heart attack." The kid lowered his weapons. Roy didn't lower his.

"What are you doing here Axel?"

"This is a Rogue safe house right? And I am a Rogue so I'm allowed to…"

"Why are you here?"

The kid looked at Roy like he was an idiot.

"Um duh. Probably for the same reason you are. Some freaky dudes in suits tried to abduct us. I managed to get away but…"

"But what."

"They uh, they took Cold and Mardon. And seriously bro can you lower that thing for a second. I didn't have anything to do with what happened to them."

Roy thought about keeping the gun where it was. But Axel was looking him directly in the eyes. Not hiding, not stalling for time, or making any sort of signal to anyone else out there.

He lowered the gun, but kept it in his hand. Axel put his hands down, then picked up an unopened can.

"Mountain Dew? It's code red. Basically made for you."

Roy rubbed his eyes.

"Tell me what happened."

"Ok so, me, Mardon and Cold were at the safe house on Wilkening. And I need some glitter for my new project so I slip out and run down to the nearest store. Except when I get back, there are dozens of dudes in suits just swarming the place. Figured they were feds or something. So I hold back and keep an eye out. I mean it was like a dozen of them, I thought Mardon and Cold could handle it no sweat. I pulled out my phone to get the epic smack down on tape. It would be a pretty sweet video when Mardon knocks them all through the windows. Definitely a couple thousand retweets. Except that wasn't what happened. Couple minutes go by and then they are dragging Cold and Mardon out with bags over their heads."

"You didn't try to help?"

Axel's grin faltered for a moment.

"There were a dozen of these dudes and they had just taken down Mardon without so much as a rain storm forming overhead. I just kept videoing, you know. Kept thinking, oh Cold's got this. Must be some kind of plan. But then the vans just drove away."

"You got it on tape? The people who took them?"

"Yea, check it." Axel grabbed a laptop and pulled up the video. It was exactly as Axel had said. "I tried cleaning it up, got a few snapshots of some faces. I tried running them through facial recognition but…"

"Nothing came up."

"Which isn't even the weirdest part. I ran them through a social media program. Had it running for a couple days now, and still no hits. I mean this program checks the faces in the backgrounds of every single photo on Facebook and I'm still coming up empty. I'm going to try Instagram next, but it's freaking Facebook. How can these dudes not even be in the background of some selfie somewhere?"

"I don't know. Hartley had the same problem. Have you…"

"Radio silence. Tried texting them. Hell I even went old school and tried calling them and I got nothing. Hartley, Shawna, Mick, Lisa, all their phones are out. Dude they even got into my Twitter somehow and shut it down. Which, is the biggest crime here, all my genius tweets, lost forever."

Roy watched the video again. Looking for anything. Any kind of clue.

"The van?"

"Whoever this is, has reach. Like, I did all the normal stuff you know. I scanned security feeds, ATM cameras. Nothing. Every single one in that area went down at the same time. Twenty minutes of a complete dead zone. By the time they come back up, everything is hunky dory. There isn't even a record of the missing time."

"I was talking to Hartley before they tried to take me, and then my cell phone just dropped out of service."

"Like I said man, they must have bills to pull this big of a scam off. You were in like, Europe or something right."

"Prague."

"So you were in Germany and we…"

"The Czech Republic."

"Sure. Whatever. My point is, this is way too big for the feds or even ARGUS to pull off. Trust me, neither of them have the cash. I've checked."

So Mark and Cold were kidnapped. Hartley had been in Starling. Damn. There were too many of them separated.

"Do you know where Mick, Lisa, or Shawna were?"

"Mick was headed to Cali, Lisa was in Europe too I think. No idea on the other chick."

Roy hesitated for a moment, debating on how much he should tell Walker. Then decided that Axel was his only ally at the moment. Roy finally put the gun away.

"I saw Digger in Prague."

"The boomerang dude? I thought he fell off the map."

"He did. He saved my life. Kept me from being taken.

"Well shit. Dude's got black ops connections right? Figure he must have heard something?"

"Must have."

"Can we get in contact with that guy?"

Roy thought about the phone in his pocket. It was a way for Digger to get ahold of him. He doubted Digger still had the phone he called Roy on.

"No. No way to contact him."

It wasn't that he didn't trust Axel…

Well maybe that was it a little bit. The Rogues had never been attacked on such a grand scale before. Never been so thoroughly caught unawares. It would make sense that whoever this was, had some kind of inside information. How else would they have known exactly where all the Rogues were?

"Bummer. Looks like you and me are going to have to Sherlock this shit on our own."

Roy just nodded and watched the video again. It was dark and grainy. And…wait.

"That's the guy I shot in Prague."

"Wait, you shot a dude?" Axel pulled up the image of the man Roy was pointing to. There was no doubt now, it was one of the men that had tried to grab him from the museum.

"That's him."

"So what like, evil twins or something? Pod people?"

Roy didn't respond. He just stared at the image. Maybe it had been the drugs. Maybe he was remembering it wrong. Maybe this was just some guy who kind of looked like another kidnapper in a suit.

Roy didn't think he was wrong.

"What the hell is going on?"

 

* * *

 

First time he got lost in his head had been during his first stint in juvie. Couple months after he met Snart. The punk kid got out two months before he did. Good behavior. Which was bullshit, but Lenny was good like that.

All Mick had to do was keep his head down and he would be out right behind him. Len had told him how to keep his mouth shut, how to say what the doctor and the social workers wanted to hear.

Didn't even make it a week before he got into a fight.

Before they found his lighter.

Suddenly, it wasn't a little time in the hole. It was being sent over to the psych ward with the freaks. Mick knew he liked fire more than was normal. Knew he couldn't control it no matter what he tried. But he shouldn't have been over there.

You set one kid's arm on fire during a fight and suddenly you're crazy.

That bitch of a doctor had said she would figure out how to cure him

He had been an idiot back then. Actually thought that was possible.

Actually thought there could have been some hope that he could make the obsession go away. Or at least keep it a little farther back in his mind.

He had gotten an extra three months for the fight. So the doc kept trying different meds. Different therapies.

Nothing worked.

Some made it worse.

Couple scars on his arms he doesn't remember having before the psych ward. Just remembers thinking that the fire was in his veins and he had to get it out.

Anybody else would have stopped. Should have stopped. Mick wondered if it was even legal what they were doing to him sometimes.

But that doc had been convinced. Seemed to think it was her personal mission to make Mick better. Make it so he would fit in with normal society.

He told them he didn't want it anymore. That he wouldn't fight. That he would just sit in his cell and wait out his sentence. He only had a few weeks left by then.

But she wouldn't let it go. Wouldn't just let Mick be.

Maybe throwing a punch at her hadn't been the best idea, but he was sick of being prodded. Sick of getting a new pill each week. Sick of the side effects.

Sick of thinking he could be fixed.

Clearly he couldn't.

Don't know why she couldn't see that.

Then she found it. The perfect drug. Experimental. Said it would keep him calm, keep his mind off of the fire.

Maybe she had given up and Mick just hadn't been able to see it at the time. Mick figured it was little more than a glorified sedative.

Sure, it kept him calm. Kept him lying still in his small room, staring at the wall all day. Must have been a relief to the docs and the guards. Something that would finally keep him from attacking anybody who looked at him wrong.

He didn't really remember too much when they would give it to him. He would eat when they told him to, go outside when they told him to, hell they probably could make him piss on command.

And then the hallucinations started.

First he just thought it was a trick of the light. Being inside so long, playing tricks on him. But then he could see it. The sky was on fire. He wanted to move towards it, but his body barely worked anymore. So he would just sit on the floor and stare out the window. Looking up at the sky like it would rain down hellfire on him. Burn him out of this place once and for all.

He was standing in a field.

The trees around the field were on fire. He could hear screaming. He wondered vaguely if it was his parents. He thought he could see figures in the tree line, standing there waving out towards him.

Beckoning him.

Every time he tried to get closer to the fire it would get farther away. He ran and ran but he could never reach it.

Then he was lying in bed at a halfway house in Central City.

And he had no idea how he got there.

He waited for the scene to change. Waited for the next vision to take over his mind.

But nothing came. He laid in that bed for almost two days before he finally got up. Finally managed to convince himself that this was real. That he wasn't in juvie anymore.

He found his release papers, and all the info for his parole officer.

He had been released three days ago.

To this day, he didn't remember any of it.

He shook the incident off. Figured it was just the strong meds, must have taken a few days for them to wear off. He moved on.

Forgot about the fire in the sky. And the field.

He got locked up a couple more times. Nothing serious.

Then a job him and Len were working went south. Some stupid punk ratted them out to the cops, trying to get in good with the pigs.

Lenny had covered their tracks pretty good. Evidence was circumstantial, based on the word of a known thief. But they both had priors.

So they got two years a piece.

Probably should have been closer to ten, but Len was good. Hell, Len could get out with good behavior in a year.

Probably would have too.

Except for those damn Santini bastards. Tried to jump Mick for some arson he had done a few years back. Burned down one of their safe houses. Mick hadn't known it was a mob house. He had just taken the job, didn't care much what it was. He just wanted to see it all in flames.

They had waited until Lenny wasn't around, knew the two of them watched out for each other. One of them managed to stab Mick in the shoulder.

That had pissed him off.

He didn't stop punching until there were guards pulling at him from every angle. Hell, he didn't even stop then.

Plus he had his lighter.

Mick had barely burned the guy that stabbed him. Not even third degree on his torso. But the warden acted like Mick had roasted the guy alive.

Which he would have if given the chance. But Lenny had been teaching him how to keep his mouth shut in front of the warden.

Apparently some asshole was allowed to stab him, but defending himself was against the rules.

He expected to end up in solitary for a couple weeks.

But the warden had his file in front of him.

Said Mick had a history of this type of behavior. Had a history of extreme violence.

Mick had kept his mouth shut. Waited for the warden to give him some bullshit speech about how he was a lost cause, that people like him should only look forward to a needle in the arm.

But the asshole was new. Still thought even people like him could be "reformed."

"You will spend the next few weeks in the psych ward, once the doctor believes you are no longer a danger to others, you can be returned to gen pop."

Mick had rolled his eyes.

Great. A couple weeks in a padded room, putting together puzzles, and listening to the crazies talk to themselves.

Mick had just taken the pills they gave him after the transfer and then…

He was in that damn field again. Sky was still on fire too.

Except the field wasn't empty.

It was his old house. Whole place was on fire. He could remember sitting outside, watching it all happen. He walked in through the main door, the flames were everywhere. But every time he would reach for them, they would shy away. Wither and die.

He couldn't feel them.

The fire didn't want him.

It was frustrating as hell.

His parents weren't in their bed.

He didn't know why he checked there.

Then he was in a warehouse with Len. Going over plans for a job. Len telling him that all he had to do was set one little fire and everything would be fine.

He remembers memorizing the plans. The details of it. The schedules of the security guards. He thinks that weeks go by in the planning stages. Len always had to plan every little thing out.

He gets to set a few cars in the parking lot on fire. Len is running out with the cash. But Mick can't control it. The fire jumps from car to car. Moving in a way that Mick knows for a fact fire doesn't move.

With purpose.

Straight towards Lenny.

Len catches on fire. He's screaming something fierce.

Mick doesn't move to help him. He can't. It's…just the way the fire moved and the colors of it. It was so…

There are mashed potatoes in his mouth.

At least, what he thinks are mashed potatoes.

He looks up and he's in the cafeteria.

He's back in gen pop. And Lenny is sitting across from him.

Not on fire.

He's got a look in his eyes. One Mick can't really place.

Might be mistaken for concern on a normal person.

"Mick?"

"Yea Len?" Mick looks Len in the eye, and that must be some kind of signal that Mick isn't aware of because Len relaxes a fraction of an inch.

"You back with me?"

Mick looks down at his food. Thinks about lying.

"Don't really know."

Len could tell if he was lying anyway.

Len don't say another word till they're back in their cell. Can't risk other people hearing something that could be used against them.

Starts talking in that matter of fact way he's got. Like what he says is the truth. Whether it is or not is irrelevant.

"You were in the psych ward for three weeks. I had to pull some strings to get you transferred back over here. I might even owe a few favors now."

Mick is sitting on the bottom bunk, staring at his arm where he knows a stab wound should be. Skins mostly healed.

"Three weeks?"

Len's got that look on his face again. Mick doesn't much care for it.

"I managed to come over and see you after the first week. Smudged a few work orders around. You…"

Len hesitates. Len never hesitates.

It makes Mick angry.

"Spit it out Snart."

"You didn't recognize me. You barely moved. Just sat in a corner and stared out the window. I managed to get a look at your file and see what meds they had you on."

Mick had no idea how Len managed that, but he had stopped questioning it at this point. Mick's got a pretty good idea he knows what they gave him.

"Little white pills with X-48 stamped on 'em?"

"Yes. You've been given them before?"

"Remember that blonde doc from juvie? The one with the glasses? She gave that to me after you got released. Said it was the only thing that "worked" on me. Keeps me docile, compliant."

"But."

Damn. Len would figure out something was up.

"Makes me hallucinate or something. Can't…really tell what's real and what ain't. Lose time. How long I been back over here?"

"Almost five days."

Damn.

That was longer than last time.

"Last time it took me two days to shake it off. To realize…"

"Realize you weren't hallucinating any more."

Mick hated it when Len finished his sentences like that. Hated it, and was sometimes grateful. Len usually had the words when Mick couldn't find what he was trying to say.

"Thought we were pulling a job. Thought we were at the warehouse on 6th. Job went sideways. Everything burned. Then we was eating lunch. Both things…feel the same."

Len didn't respond to that. No doubt he knew what Mick meant by everything.

Len could have gotten out after a year with good behavior.

Couple days later he gets caught running an illegal card game out of the kitchen. Warden decides to make Len serve out his full sentence.

Mick doesn't end up in the psych ward again.

They get released a couple of days apart.

Mick and Len don't always pull jobs together.

Sometimes they get sick of each other's company. Sometimes it's a screaming match over a job gone wrong. Sometimes it's a fist fight over a card game.

Point is, they ain't joined at the hip. So Len will fly off to London for a year to steal some big painting, and Mick will take a job in Coast City. Torching abandoned lots for some kind of insurance scam.

Mick's got a reputation separate from Snart.

Pyromaniac. Fire bug. Arsonist. Whatever people want to call it.

Mick likes it.

Likes the way people flinch away when he pulls out a lighter. Tends to make people not ask too many questions. Make them think he's just some dumb thug they can use and toss away. Makes it easy to turn the tables on them.

Course, Mick knows he ain't the best planner. Which is why he usually just joins crews and does his thing.

He blames Snart for the next time he gets arrested.

He got used to working with the bastard. Used to knowing that every detail would be planned out. That the boss in charge would know if there were six security guards or seven. Would have the common sense to check on all the cameras to make sure there weren't any changes in the three months since he had gotten the damn plans.

Mick's got a bullet in his leg and cops on his ass. And even if Snart is half a damn world away, it's still somehow his fault.

Mick manages to evade the cops for a bit, but the bullet slows him down. He gets caught after a cop sideswipes the car he has stolen.

He barely resists arrest.

Barely.

Cops should learn to defend themselves better if they don't want broken bones.

Twenty-five years.

Not eligible for parole for fifteen.

Mick hadn't even killed anybody. The boss, some idiot named Jacobs, had freaked when there was an extra guard. Figured the best way to stick to the plan was to bring the number back down to six. Course the gunshot had just attracted all kinds of attention.

Mick had bailed right then and there. He might not be smart, but he sure as hell wasn't stupid enough to stick around after that. One of the other crew members had shot Mick. Bastard had said it was an accident. Mick had believed him. So he had only beaten the guy half to death when they cross paths in prison.

Jacobs had gotten life. No chance of parole. He was just lucky to avoid the chair. Lucky the state didn't do the death penalty no more.

Course the problem was, after about four months, Jacobs came to realize he had nothing to lose. Starting blaming the rest of the crew, saying they were reason he had been caught. That one of them must have ratted them out to the cops.

Mick sure as hell wasn't no rat. Never opened his mouth once to the cops, no matter how much he hated Jacobs. No matter how much he thought the guy was an idiot.

But people with life sentences can go a couple of ways. They can try to make the most of it, read all the time, get a few degrees, write a damn book. All they got is time now, might as well use it.

Some of them get so hoped up on drugs they don't notice the years passing. Mick knew one or two that took the easy way out.

Or they decide they don't want to spend however many years sitting in one room, eating shitty food, and staring at gray walls all day. But there isn't anything they can do about it. Nothing they can do will change the food or the walls or the same thing over and over. So it starts to drive them nuts. Jacobs was only 32, guy had a lot of years left.

Which is probably why he thought he could take Mick alone. Corner him in the laundry room with a shiv.

Mick had snapped the idiot's neck.

Self defense.

Funny how no one ever seemed to believe him.

This time, they did throw him in solitary.

It was torture down there. No fire to focus on. Started banging on the walls. Pulling at the door. Making a racket.

They tell him to shut up.

Just makes him louder.

Next meal time, there are two white pills with his food.

He doesn't take them.

He doesn't like the false fire. Doesn't like the missing time. Doesn't like how hard it is for him to tell what's real.

They must know he's flushing them down the toilet because a couple days later, four guards swarm into his cell and shove them down his throat.

Mick hates the goddamn field.

Doesn't know why he hates it. Just knows that he does.

Doesn't even know where it is. He's just laying there though, watching the sky burn. Watching the fire fall down from the heavens. He knows that ain't right. Fire is supposed to come from down below not up above.

If he had known there was fire in heaven, maybe he could have tried to actually work towards getting there.

A large flaming asteroid lands in the field not too far from where he is laying. He's certain there is someone standing behind it. But the fire is distorting everything, the heat making everything blurry. Can't hear what they're saying.

"Nice place."

Mick turns his head. Lisa is smirking at him.

Yea, it was a shitty one bedroom apartment. But it was his shitty one bedroom apartment. She pushes her way past him. Says something about crashing on his couch for the night.

Somehow he ends up on the couch and she's sleeping in his bed. He doesn't ask her why, or where she got the bruise on her arm. Just lets her sleep the night. In the morning, she's telling him about something to do with fashion. He barely listens when Len is telling him plans for the next job, he isn't listening to Lisa now.

He looks up from his eggs…and she isn't there anymore.

Mick looks down at his food. Still eggs. He's…eating eggs?

"Mick…damn it! Drive!"  
Lisa's in the back seat, there are lights flashing in the rearview. Mick and Lisa don't usually pull jobs together. Not without Len. But this was a special case. Len was serving a six month stint. And Lisa was going to do it alone. He couldn't let her do the job alone.

So he was there. He was just the driver.

They get away. With jewels and some kind of…

Lisa slaps him in the face.

Mick looks up at her.

Len is standing beside her.

"Lisa…"

"What? We have literally tried everything else. It's been almost two weeks since you busted him out and he is just…"

Mick looks around slowly. He doesn't recognize this safe house. Doesn't recognize the couch he is sitting on.

Mick puts a hand on the fabric. It's gotta be from the seventies, feels almost like velvet. Ugly as hell, orange and brown. It feels real under his fingers.

Mick doesn't trust it.

"You're in London."

The siblings stop arguing.

Len's got that look again.

Mick hates it so goddamn much.

"I was. But Lisa told me about your incarceration. So I decided to keep an eye on things. A contact told me Jacobs was becoming unstable, so I started on a plan to bust you out."

"You busted me out."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Len wouldn't fly back early from London to get Mick out of prison. He'd wait till whatever job he was doing got done, then he might come back. Let Mick stew for a year or so, just so Mick could learn whatever lesson Len thought he needed to learn.

Len and Lisa shared a look.

"Mick, sweetie, why don't you eat something."

"Just had eggs. We…"

There wasn't a job with Lisa. Or if there was, it was years ago. A memory mixed up and around in his head.

Maybe there wasn't an ugly couch in some safe house he didn't recognize either.

He was still in his cell. Still drooling on the floor like some nutjob. He wasn't out.

He couldn't be out.

Lenny wouldn't come back early.

It took him almost two months to accept that he wasn't still in a cell.

Managed to convince Len and Lisa that he was fine after about two weeks though. Course they both got super pissed at him when they realized he had been lying about it. Not like either of them got hurt.

He just…hadn't ducked when some guys started shooting at them. They had yelled at him and he had slipped up. Said he didn't know why they were so mad.

It didn't really matter. It wasn't like it was real.

Len had been furious.

Got real quiet.

When Len gets to the point where he don't even want to lecture you, you know it's bad.

Figured they'd kick him out after that. But they didn't. Just kept him around the safe house, didn't let him go on jobs for awhile. Let him burn small fires when he got bored.

"Never again."

Len had finally started talking to Mick again. Mostly the man had just forced Mick to eat, left blue prints around for Mick to memorize, made sure the television was working.

Startled Mick a bit to hear Len's voice again after a few weeks of silence.

"What?"

"I promise you Mick. I won't ever let them give you that shit again."

Mick hadn't really been sure how to respond to that. Wasn't like Lenny could be there every time Mick messed up. Every time he got thrown into prison.

He had heard Len and Lisa talking a bit. Talking about how Mick had looked. The way he acted when they had broken him out. Like a zombie, only moving or eating when they forced him to. Even then, he had barely reacted.

Couldn't have been easy for them.

Mick knew Len liked to be in control of everything. Liked to think that he if he just made a plan for something, it would all work out.

Mick owed Lenny a lot. Least he could do was give the man a little piece of mind. No matter how false it was.

"I know you won't Boss."

Never got sent back after that. Len always had an escape plan. Always had a way out.

Course.

Then there was the fire.

And Lenny saying they were done.

He knows that was real.

Got the scars to prove that.

The pain from the fire was agony. He had managed to escape from an ambulance. Only help he could get was back alley doctors. Who didn't always clean their tools or have a steady supply of pain killers.

Mick knew he lost days in pain filled delirium.

Weeks.

And then suddenly, he was healed up. Walking around with scars all over. And then Len was there, offering him a super powered flame thrower. Calling himself Captain Cold. Wanting Mick to help him fight a man who could run faster than the speed of sound.

And then Lisa was there. She got a gun too. They were all back together like the fire hadn't happened. Like Len hadn't said Mick was becoming more unstable as he got older.

They were crashing in some mansion of some guys they killed. Mick was sleeping on a king sized bed with satin sheets.

He dreamed he was laying in a padded room. Staring at a white wall, and seeing it catch aflame. He could feel the heat, but the flames stayed away from him. He wanted them to come closer. He wanted to touch them.

When he woke up in the morning, he kept clutching the sheets beneath his fingers.

It felt real.

But so did the padded room. So did the straightjacket he had been wearing.

He didn't tell Len or Lisa about the dream. Didn't tell anyone. Not even when their crew started expanding. Not a guy who could control emotions with his eyes. Or a chick that could disappear in a puff of smoke. Or a guy who could control the weather.

He didn't want to know.

Didn't want to know if this was real or not.

It wasn't always in the back of his mind. But sometimes, when things were good. When they would pull off a job. The Rogues. When they would pull off a job that netted them millions. When they would get away scot-free. When they were yelling at the television during a hockey game.

It would start to slip into his mind.

This isn't real.

He couldn't remember how he escaped from that ambulance. And there was so much missing time when he was healing from his burns. He could have been taken to a hospital. They could have injected him with those meds when he was still unconscious. Saw in the file it was the only thing that would work on him.

He wondered if it was.

He had been seventeen the first time they gave him those pills. Must have been new meds created since then. Mick just figured the prison docs didn't want to risk trying anything else. That shit worked just fine for their purposes. Not like they actually thought he could be helped anyway.

Maybe there was some med, some therapy, out there that could calm the fire in his mind. That wouldn't make him into a damn zombie.

Mick just figured it was too late for him at this point. Why waste the time now?

Especially if he was still locked up.

He knew he wasn't the smartest guy. Knew that crazy people didn't always know when they finally split off from reality completely. Sometimes he could ignore the thoughts. But sometimes they were so damn loud.

Besides, what made more sense?

That he was a part of some bad ass group of super powered freaks. A group that always had each other's backs, that didn't fall apart like a group like this should? That suddenly his family wasn't just the ashes of his parents. Wasn't just Len and Lisa. But now included a whole mess of people.

Or…

Or that he never got out of that ambulance.

That Len had realized how dangerous Mick was. How after twenty five years of working together, Len realized that Mick was only going to get worse. So he had cut his loses. And left Mick to rot in some padded room for the rest of his life.

Len was a practical guy.

Mick knew which one made the most sense.

Mick reached out a hand towards the fire. His sleeve caught almost instantly. He could feel the heat of it. The almost pain as it started to burn the fabric. His jacket was fire resistant, so it shouldn't reach the skin.

Mick stared at it for a few more minutes, then reluctantly removed his jacket.

This felt real.

Fire was real.

He needed the fire now more than ever.

The fire in his hallucinations didn't burn him.

Whenever the thought would start to move to the forefront of his mind. The idea that he was still trapped. He would pull out a lighter or a match and he would let it hover just beside his skin. Just enough so that he could almost feel the pain.

It grounded him.

It was real.

Mick walked back to his car. He released the parking brake and pushed it towards the fire. He would have to walk back out a couple miles. But it would be alright. He grabbed his bag out of the trunk, he had couple of bottles of water in there. Couple of candy bars.

He had positioned the two dead men in suits in the front seats of the car.

Mick had tossed his cell phone in with them. Figured that must have been how the bastards found him in the first place. Hopefully if there were any more, they would just assume Mick was dead.

He flipped the needle in his hands over a few times. One of them had tried to stick him early on. Almost got him too. He shoved the needle in the bag. Ignoring the idea that it contained the same meds he had been given before. That was crazy. Why would these assholes have that stuff?

Mick watched the flames get closer to the car. He walked slowly backwards down the road. The flames from the forest fire were only just starting to reach this area. Soon the smoke would be too thick for anyone to come looking this way. Mick pulled out his gun and set the car ablaze.

No one would question another burnt out husk of a car in this area. Probably just some dumb campers who didn't realize how close they were until it was too late. Be weeks before anyone could get around to finding the car, let alone identifying the men. Or realizing that one had a stab wound to the throat. The other a broken neck.

Mick turned away from the fire, though he kept an eye on it. Kept a watch for any sign that it would turn. That a sudden gust of wind would blow it towards him.

He made it back to the main road after a few hours. The wildfires lit up the night sky. Between the smog from the city, and the clouds…

It almost looked like the sky was on fire.

Mick pulled out his lighter and flicked it on and off a few time. The movement familiar. Soothing.

Real.

He needed to get to a phone.

Call Len.

Find the rest of the Rogues.

See what kind of shit they were in this time.


	3. Chapter 3

When he was starting to consider clones as a viable option, Roy had to admit that at some point he had lost the ability to determine what was and wasn't possible.

Axel had suggested aliens wearing human skin.

It horrified Roy to think that he had to actually consider that option for a few moments before dismissing it.

And that he only dismissed it because he didn't know how to rescue the others from a group of aliens. Especially if there was a space ship or something involved.

So far he only knew for sure that Cold and Mardon had been taken. But in the weeks since then, there hadn't been a word from anyone else. If Hartley was out there, he would have figured out how to contact them by now. Shawna should have been able to reappear, just sitting in the living room like she had been there all along. Lisa would make an entrance, let them know what an inconvenience it was to have to come all the way out here for nothing. Mick would just walk in, no scene no frills.

Axel had managed to hack into STAR Labs security, but there was no one there. The Flash had been spotted a week ago, running in to stop some kind of bank robbery. But otherwise there had been no sign of the rest of his team. Axel had used security cameras to figure out that the Flash had left the city at some point.

Wherever the Flash was calling his headquarters it wasn't Central City.

It was also odd that none of the news channels seemed to be mentioning anything about the disappearance of so many people. It was like it never happened. No one was acknowledging that in one day, almost every meta human had been taken. There wasn't even mention of it on the internet. No conspiracy theories popping up. No shots of men in suits carting people away.

Everyone had a camera on their phone, and yet it was like they were back in the 80s or something. When shadowy agencies could pull off things like this without anyone ever knowing.

All they had to go off of was Axel's grainy video coverage.

"I say we put it on YouTube. Boom! People see it and…"

"And they know that two members of the Rogues have been taken by what look like federal agents. The last thing we need is to draw attention to the fact that we weren't."

Axel had a tendency to whine. Which was only getting worse the longer he didn't get a chance to post the video.

"Commmeeee ooonnnnn, man. I'm like dying here. I haven't uploaded anything in over two weeks. Fourteen days! My followers are going to know something happened to me! They'll believe me if I say we got hit by a bunch of men in black. They'll start searching and..."

Roy sighed. Spending the past two weeks with Axel had been…trying. The boy was constantly on the move, constantly working on something. Flitting from one thing to another with the speed of a coked up hummingbird. It was exhausting just watching the kid sometimes.

"And what? We still haven't found a single photo of these people anywhere on the internet. Can you guarantee that if we upload that video they won't be able to backtrack it and find us? Or be able to delete it somehow?"

"Dude. Do you even know how the internet works because I…"

"Axel. We need to be smart about this. We need a plan."

"And I am working on it! Prepare to be…"

Roy grabbed Axel's arm and pulled him behind the cabinet. Silencing what ever ridiculous thing the boy was going to suggest now. If Roy had to hear about renting out a bunch of Zeppelins and dropping Missing Rogues flyers all over the city one more time…

"What the hell dude…"

Roy put a hand over Axel's mouth. Roy had heard something. A small creaking noise, like someone coming down the stairs.

Roy activated his powers. Letting his eyes turn yellow as he prepared to hit whoever came through the door with fear.

He was momentarily distracted, and incredibly annoyed, when he heard the telltale sound of Axel taking a picture of Roy with his phone. Roy turned and gave Axel a quick glare, though he didn't look the kid in the eyes.

He thought about it though. More than thought about it. Really wanted to do it for a moment.

Axel raised his hands placatingly.

"Sorry dude, never actually seen your mojo before. What are the veiny things around your eyes? Do they..."

Roy actually had to swat the boy's hand away when he went to poke the area around Roy's eyes.

The door at the top of the stairs swung open. Roy could hear footsteps coming down. They were heavy, but hesitant. Whoever it was, wasn't trying to mask their footsteps but they were expecting something. Roy peered around the cabinet and…

"Yo! What's up Mick!"

Axel had jumped in front of Roy the second Mick's heat gun had come into view. The kid was already walking towards the older Rogue. Mick hadn't lowered his gun. Still aiming it at Walker.

Roy sighed and deactivated his powers. He stepped around the cabinet, making himself visible. Mick finally lowered his weapon.

"Where you been man? Did a bunch of freaks try to round you up too? We almost got snatched, but of course my genius allowed…"

Mick ignored Axel completely. Walking towards Roy as if Walker wasn't even there.

"You know what's going on?"

Axel looked slightly put out that Mick was ignoring him. Roy rolled his eyes at the younger man.

"Someone has kidnapped or tried to kidnap every meta human. They tried to take me in Prague, so we know it isn't just in Central City. They got Cold and Mardon for sure, we don't know about the rest."

"Tried to get me too."

"Yea bro, we think that it's all some kind of huge conspiracy with aliens and clones and…"

Mick spoke to Roy like Axel wasn't buzzing around him.

"Killed the two that came for me."

"I shot one, but we honestly don't know how many there are…."

"Dude it could be a whole clone army we are…"

"Go somewhere else Walker."

Mick almost growled at the kid when it looked like he might start talking again.

Axel threw his hands up in the air and muttered under his breath. Walker grabbed his laptop and headed down one of the hidden tunnels.

"You know he will still be listening in right?"

"Don't care if he listens, just needed him to stop interrupting."

"Ah. Well. I got out of Prague, thanks to Digger. He seemed to know a little bit about what was going on but he hasn't made contact since then."

"Hm. Lisa's safe."

"You're sure?"

"We got ways of sending signals no one else knows about."

Roy felt a small bit of relief at that news.

"So that leaves Shawna and Hartley unaccounted for. And Snart and Mardon taken somewhere. I've had Axel keeping an eye out for any usual weather patterns but so far nothing."

"What about the Flash?"

"As far as we can tell he wasn't taken. Unless there is another speedster running around stopping bank robberies."

"That would be our luck."

Roy gave a small smile at that.

"Is Lisa in the US?"

"Not yet. Will be soon. Wait til she gets back before we start planning anything. Said she's got some ideas on people to ask."

Roy thought about the cell phone that Digger had given him.

"Digger gave me a burner phone. He called me on it, but it was from a pay phone. I don't know how to get in contact with him."

"Best we let him do his thing. He knows where this place is."

Roy nodded at that.

Mick's presence over the next few days was…surprisingly calming. The man had been able to feed whatever need his pyromania required in California. Allowing him to focus on the information they did have.

Which wasn't much of course. But it always helped to have another set of eyes on things.

Mick somehow managed to keep Walker from getting too hyper. Which was a miracle in of itself.

"Nothing that can distinguish them?"

Roy and Axel were going over the screenshots from the video. Again. The same as they had done for a few days now. It felt like they were constantly moving in circles. Mick had Axel scanning the news reports for any word of missing people, meta human or not.

So far there was still nothing.

"No, I mean. I thought it was like standard evil operating practices to have the name of your company like stamped on the side of the van or at least have it on the jackets of..."

The door to the stairs opened, but Roy recognized Mick's footsteps so didn't pull the gun that was sitting on the table. He heard another set as well.

Finally.

"Lisa."

"Well, well. I leave you boys alone for five minutes and everything goes to hell."

Lisa walked up to Roy and gave him a hug. Roy had consistently been subjected to physical contact from the younger Snart sibling. This time however, he found he didn't mind it quite as much. And he was certain he was imaging that she seemed to grip him slightly tighter than normal.

"Mick said you got hurt."

"Shot in the back...then stabbed. By Digger. But it was to keep the people who shot me off my trail. I'm mostly healed now."

Lisa's eyes had flashed with pure anger when Roy had mentioned Digger's name. But it muted slightly with the reveal that he might have saved Roy from being found.

"Good. Axel. Surprised to see you haven't gotten yourself killed yet."

Lisa said it with a smile in her voice. Axel smiled back widely.

"And miss out on seeing your beauty again?"

Roy rolled his eyes. Lisa was clearly toying with the younger man. Hopefully Axel was aware of it.

Mick grunted behind them.

Lisa turned towards the photos on the table.

"Mick has filled me in on everything that has happened. Now, if we are going to find our missing members and bring them home, we need to move quickly."

Lisa pulled out a file from her jacket and spread it out on the table.

"I don't know exactly what we are up against, but I've been able to use some old contacts to find a few places that we need to check out. A few politicians in high levels of power owed me a favor. Well, less a favor and more a threat of blackmail, but that's semantics. This is a list of decommissioned military black sites. Most of which have been sold of to private companies. Most of them military contractors. However a few were sold to scientific research facilities. Companies with...less than FDA approval if you get my drift. The ones I've underlined are ones that have recently been bought or recently had work done on them. This one..." Lisa circled an address. "...is approximately five hours away. It's the closest one. Odds are it will be nothing more than a creepy abandoned building but we have to start somewhere."

"We will leave in the morning. Axel I want you to find out everything you can about the facility. I don't care what government database you have to hack. Find us the blueprints. You're going to stay here with Mick, while Roy and I go check the place out."

"What? I gotta do all the work and I don't even get to have any fun? That is some straight up bullshit."

Mick glared at Axel but Lisa just smiled.

"Axel, sweetie, if this is a location and Roy and I get taken we need to make sure we still have people on the outside. You would be most qualified to find us."

"You seemed to find out this stuff just fine..."

"Well, I can only ask the crown prince of Morocco for one favor at a time. I think the only reason no one tried to take me is because I was at the prince's chalet at the time. Might have made quite the international scene."

Axel begrudgingly agreed to stay behind. Though not without a few more pointed comments the next day when they were getting ready to leave.

Lisa had insisted that Roy keep the gun and the phone Digger had given him on him at all times. He was their only meta at the moment and would most likely be the most obvious target.

Roy had agreed. He remembered the feeling of this powers slipping away from him and had no intention of being caught unaware again.

They had found the facility relatively quickly, thanks to Axel's instructions.

Lisa had been right. The place didn't look like much. There was only one car parked in the lot. They had been watching the facility for almost five days now. So far they had only seen one person come in and one person go out.

It would have looked like nothing more than a repair van, making some minor upgrades to a recently bought property. Even the name of the repair company on the side of the van had checked out. But there was something about it that was just…off.

Lisa had agreed.

The van left around 7 pm. They waited until almost 10 to head inside. Making sure there was no one else still there who might surprise them.

The security at the door wasn't high tech. It looked like the same security that would have been installed when the building was built back in the 1960s.

"That's how the best places do it. Keep the original security, make you think there haven't been any upgrades, then get you with some high tech scanners that are hidden, right...there."

Lisa found the entry point to the hidden thermal scanners and disabled them with practiced ease.

They entered a long hallway. The plans showed this place to have been little more than a holding facility for high profile prisoners. Terrorist suspects and the like.

As such there were only the holding cells at the end of the hallway, and four small office rooms. Roy pulled open one of the office doors to see it had been converted into a small kitchen of sorts.

Lisa nodded to Roy and they headed down the hallway. Checking each room as they went. There was no sign of anyone in the small office rooms.

They made it to the doorway that led to the cells. Lisa's hand stilled at the door.

"Shit. There are automatic touch sensors on the handle. If I try to open it from this side an alarm will go off."

"You think it is remote locked?"

"It's probably set on a timer, only to open at certain points during the day. We open it any other time and we will be toast." Lisa touched her earpiece. "Axel, can you take care of this?"

"Of course! I mean I could have done it in like six seconds if I was there with you but...ow, geez dude, ok yea alright I'm working on it see?"

Mick's gruff voice came over the comm.

"He's fixing it. Going to be a problem?"

"Nothing we can't handle. Looks like my special friend in government was right about something shady happening at these locations. We should be able to find out who bought this site and see if any other shell corporations purchased similar buildings."

"Got it! Alright, I tricked the system into thinking it was 8 am, so you should be able to open the dooorrrr, now!"

Lisa pulled the door open. She had her gun out and ready. Roy activated his powers behind her, keeping an eye for any threats.

Like the two people who tried to rush the door as soon as it opened.

Lisa side stepped them easily, allowing Roy to hit them both with fear. He had found it to be the most effective method of stopping people dead in their tracks. There was always the occasional person who would then run, but most people reacted the same way.

The two people, a young man and an older woman, both froze.

Lisa took a step forward. Putting herself between Roy and the would-be attackers.

"I think I recognize this one. Just release the boy."  
Roy nodded and did it. The boy's eyes widened when he saw Lisa's gun pointed directly at his head.

"Whoa, lady, easy there. Look we..."

"Jefferson Jackson, right?"

"Ummm, yea? Hey, we gotta get out of here before..."

"Relax, we have a little time. We need answers and hope you can provide some for us."

"I..." Jefferson seemed to notice that the woman beside him was standing very still, and saw Roy's eyes focused on her. "Hey man! Let her go, she..."

Lisa pushed her gun to the kid's temple when he took a step towards Roy. Roy just smirked. Lisa's voice was sickly sweet.

"Listen, Jefferson. It has been a trying few weeks and at this exact moment, I'm not feeling particularly magnanimous. You have information we need, but if something were to say…happen to your friend here…" Lisa aimed the gun at the still unmoving woman. "Well, that would be unfortunate, wouldn't it?"

Jefferson glared at Lisa but stepped backwards.

"Good. Now, like I said, we want some answers. Do you know anything about the people who took you?"

"No. Look, all I know is, I'm with Grey getting some food. Next thing I'm locked up here. They take us into these rooms and...and I don't even know what. All I know is I'm super tired and can't use my powers for over a week or two. Can't even feel them most of the time. She…is a metahuman too. Happens to her just the same. Then they stick some people in with us and they got our powers. They took away both of the people they did that to. Asked them, they weren't metas before they came here though. Don't know where they went. Or what happened to them."

Lisa finally lowered the gun. Roy didn't want to think of the implications of what the kid was saying. It sounded like whoever was doing this was trying to create meta humans by stealing their powers.

"I only heard one thing, after they took my powers. Guess they thought I was still unconscious. Sounded like they said...Project Parasite."

"That sounds ominous."

Roy started slightly at Axel's voice in his ear. Lisa rolled her eyes, then nodded to Roy.

He released the other woman from his control.

She was shaking, and started to cry. Jefferson put his arms around her.

"It's alright, I told you we would get out of here." He looks up at Lisa as if he isn't sure she is going to let them leave.

"There isn't anyone else here? You're sure?"

"Just us."

Roy may not have been able to read the Snart siblings on the best of days, but he could see the tension in Lisa's shoulders. The way she tightened her grip on her gun.

Her brother wasn't here.

They did a quick check of the cells just to be sure. But couldn't find any indicators that there were hidden rooms or a basement. They admitted that Jefferson and the woman were the only two people around. They headed back to the car.

"Axel. Start running the owner of this building against any other recent purchases."

"Already on it my queen."

Roy looked at the two metas standing by the back of the car.

"What do we do with them?"

"Well, we can't take them back to the safe house. We could just drop them back wherever they are from..."

"But?"

Jefferson had apparently heard a part of the conversation and stepped towards them.

"Hey man, I'm from Central alright? So you can drop me there, I need to get in contact with the Flash and figure out where they took Grey. His powers are dependent on me, so if we are separate for too long he could die."

"How long?"

"It...varies. But it's already been a couple weeks. He could be real bad off."

"Hmmm. Actually that sounds like a fine plan. What about her?"

"She's from Opal, but she doesn't want to go back there. Figured she could hole up with me for awhile."

"Alright. We will drive you back to Central and drop you off where the Flash can find you."

Jefferson nodded his head and got into the back seat with the other meta. Roy looked at Lisa suspiciously.

"We are going to just...drop him off?"

"Of course Roy. We want these poor innocent people to get back to their lives don't we?"

Mick's voice came over the coms.

"Safe house on Barker?"

"That would be perfect Mick."

Roy never really understood how Mick always seemed to know exactly what the Snarts were talking about.

Lisa looped her arm through Roy's and pulled him a little bit away from the car.

"We drop them off. Make sure to put out a very loud signal stating that they were somewhere safe. Make sure the Flash, no matter where he is hiding, will be able to find it."

"And whoever kidnapped them in the first place."

"Exactly."

"You want to use them as bait."

"We need to make sure we can get one of these bastards alive. We don't know how many places like this there are. Lenny only had a partial list of meta humans in the city and it was still well above 200 people. There could be 50 more of these small sites scattered throughout the world. And I don't feel like personally checking every single one for our wayward members. We need to get to the Rogues as soon as possible. Before these sickos decide to scrap this Project Parasite and destroy all the evidence."

Roy nodded his head.

That was smart. If they had the chance to interrogate one of these people, then they could find the Rogues. Find out why this was happening. Who was behind it.

Lisa and Roy drove Jefferson and Alice back to Central City. It was a mostly quiet trip. Alice had yet to say anything really coherent. And Jefferson spent most of his time trying to calm the woman down.

"What's her power?" Lisa had asked after about two hours of listening to the meta woman sniffle in the back seat.

The woman didn't respond. Just buried her head in Jefferson's shoulder.

"She didn't even really know she had powers til they took her. She…she can make things work."

"What like broken tvs or something?"

"I guess. She said she just looks at something and she can fix it or it will just work for her when she touches it."

"We should have her come look at the tv at the safe house. Hasn't quite been the same since Mardon hit it with a lightening bolt during a hockey game."

Lisa had smiled but neither of the people in the backseat smiled back.

"Tough crowd."

Roy had smirked and the conversation had died for the rest of the trip.

When they got to the safe house on Barker, Jefferson had actually decided to start speaking again.

"What's this? I thought you would take us to STAR Labs or the Pipeline. Not some shack in the middle of nowhere. My mom lives…"

"You probably shouldn't tell a couple of wanted criminals where your mother lives. Besides, the security of the pipeline is somehow worse than when the Flash was running the place. They were broken into and all the meta humans in there were taken. And we've been monitoring the new STAR Labs headquarters and there is no one there. Trust me, this is the safest place for the both of you."

Jefferson looked dubiously at Lisa. Lisa sighed.

"Do you really want us to take you to your mother's house and then when the bad guys come looking for you…"

"Alright, alright. I get it." Jefferson pulled Alice out of the car. "Come on, let's find somewhere for you to sit. Hopefully somewhere not covered in booze and bed bugs." The kid had muttered that last sentence under his breath but they both heard it.

"You do that. Roy and I are going to check the perimeter. Make sure all our defenses are still up. And we will send a little message to the Flash."

Jefferson and Alice disappeared inside.

Mick appeared from behind the building to their left. He handed them both a tablet.

"All set up."

"Good. Axel…"

"Cameras are running. Got a clear view of both of our little minnows. I've got the feed on a closed circuit. No way whoever these people are can get into it. Sent a little video message to the Flash too. He should be getting it any minute."

"All right. I'll go in and keep them calm. Roy, you and Mick will stay out here and keep an eye out. As soon as they come, we take them out."

"Got it."

Roy spent the better part of the next few hours switching between watching the video feed on the tablet and playing solitaire on it. He was hiding out in an apartment just across the street. Mick was farther down the road. Axel was…

"This is soooo booorrring! Seriously? I mean, if I had known that being a Rogue meant sitting on your ass and staring at people sleep would be a part of it I would have definitely said no. Can't we send another message or maybe drop a picture of them on the internet. That will get these freaks over here so much faster."

"Axel. Shut up."

Mick's gruff voice generally worked on the hyperactive young man for about fifteen minutes.

"We could paint MISSING METAS HERE! On the billboard over there with a huge arrow pointing down. I mean it's like you guys think that subtlety is the only way to go. But I'm telling you I could spray paint that in…"

Axel cut off abruptly.

"Shit."

"What? Damnit Axel if you…"

"No man, hey. Why do you always assume it's my fault? Someone is trying to hack our feed."

"Is it them?"

"Nah. I mean, it's good, but it's not shadowy organization good. Those dudes were like invisible, like they have a Key tool or something. Have either of you ever seen ReBoot? It's this retro show from the 90s and…"

"Axel…"

"Right. Anywho, someone is just trying to get a little looksee at what we got going. Probably the Flash and his crew trying to see if the message is legit. Although I swear I recognize this program they are using, kinda reminds me of one of…."

Three black SUVs suddenly come around the corner.

"We have company. And it definitely isn't the Flash."

Lisa's voice cuts in quietly. The camera feed showed her asleep on the couch.

"Alright. Axel, start looping the video now. Just in case those boys are watching."

"Done."

"Mick, take position around the back. We want them inside the house before we make a move. Once they are inside, Roy you take the cars. Axel, keep the videos outside running. I want photos of everything. Got it?"

"Yes my love. My queen. My..."

Roy could hear Lisa rolling her eyes.

"Good. Get ready."

Eight men exited the SUVs, all with guns drawn. They split up and entered the house through the different entrances. Roy made his way down to where the cars were parked. After a few moments smoke started to pour out of the safe house. Roy took the distraction to slash the tires of each of the vehicles. If those assholes tried to escape it wasn't going to be this way.

Roy heard the sounds of Lisa and Mick's guns going off. Jefferson and Alice came running out the front door.

"What the hell man? We gotta get out of here before…"

"Calm down."

"Calm down they found us, we…." Jefferson gave Roy a hard look. "You used us as bait. Man, we could have been killed!"

"But you weren't so I don't know why you are making such a scene."

A man on fire suddenly burst through the front door. He made it a few steps before collapsing on the ground nearby.

Roy sighed. Hopefully Mick and Lisa would be able to keep from killing all of them.

"Stay here."

Roy didn't turn to see if Jefferson followed his command. He walked slowly towards the safe house, entering the front door quietly.

It didn't appear as though much of the house was on fire. Just smoking slightly in some places.

There were two dead men on the ground in the foyer.

Really going to affect the resale value of this place.

Although neither was burned or covered in gold.

"Cyanide capsules." Lisa came around the corner. "Once they realized it was a trap, they barely put up a fight. Most of them just…" Lisa waved a hand at the two dead men on the ground.

"Any of them still alive?"

"Yes, we got lucky. Mick punched one of them, apparently knocked out the tooth with the cyanide in it. Guy tried to actually fight back then, we got him tied up. Mick's asking him a few questions."

A loud scream came from farther inside the house.

"Maybe we should take him somewhere where Mick can ask him questions without anyone being able to hear."

"I think you might be right. Axel…"

Lisa had just touched the comm in her ear when suddenly a gust of wind filled the room.

The Flash stood in front of them. Lisa pulled her gun and Roy powered up.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy." The Flash put his hands up in front of him. "I just want to talk."

"Is that right?"

"Yes…I…I just saw Jefferson outside. He said you guys rescued him. You're looking for your missing teammates right? We are looking for the missing metas too. We should be helping each other and…"

Another scream interrupted the Flash's no doubt inspiring speech about teamwork.

The Flash looked at them.

"What are you…?"

"Let's just say your methods for finding our missing members is probably a little different than ours."

"I can't let you torture someone."

"Please, it's just a clone. Not even sure he counts as a person."

The Flash looked at them in disbelief. There was a long pregnant pause.

"Clones?"

The Flash's voice was incredulous.

Roy and Lisa exchanged a glance.

"Sounds like you're farther behind than we are. How about we fill you in on all the nasty little surprises and you can tell us what little you've learned."

The Flash looked a little offended by Lisa's implication, but nodded his head anyway.

Roy smirked. Maybe things were finally starting to turn around.

 

* * *

 

Mark was getting really sick of being kidnapped.

He was starting to think the universe had it out for him. First getting locked up in the pipeline, twice, then the Reverse Flash, now this.

Mark couldn't think of what he had done to deserve this.

I mean yea, there were probably a bunch of things. But that wasn't the point.

Those assholes in suits had just swarmed the place. No warning, no real time to react. None of their security shit had gone off. Cold had mentioned that Hartley texted him saying Roy thought he was being followed, next thing he knew the whole place was filling up with some kind of smoke.

At first he just thought one of Axel's smoke bombs had gone off or something. He went to clear the smoke away with a gust of wind and then there were guys in gas masks everywhere.

Mark had reacted by trying to hit the guys with hail. He could hear Cold's gun going off, saw a couple of the suits go down. Mark took down a few too. Apparently it had all been a distraction. Flushing out who was in the safe house, seeing how many they were up against. Axel wasn't there like he was supposed to be. Kid had a tendency to just disappear on them. Mark thought the kid was sneaking off to try and contact Jesse. Still thinking that maybe the old guy was his dad or something.

If Axel had been in the safe house during the fight, then the kid hadn't jumped in. Maybe the kid had actually done something smart and managed to sneak away. More of the Rogues that were out there, the easier it would be for them to find Mark and break him out of where ever he was headed now.

He was fairly certain Cold was sitting beside him.

He had seen the man go down. Needle in his neck.

Next thing Mark knew he had a matching one in his.

He had tried to keep fighting. Managed put up a decent show of it, but then his powers started to fade. Must have been something in the needle making his powers sputter out like they did.

The bag over his head had felt unnecessary.

Mark wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious. Just knew was sitting on a seat bench in a vehicle now. Reminded him of the ones that they had for transport to Iron Heights.

Was that what this was? Some big coordinated attack from the cops?

Nah. The CCPD could never get their shit together well enough to pull something like this off.

ARGUS was supposed to stay out of it.

The feds?

All the guys that attacked were wearing suits. Now they were being carted off to some secret government prison.

Though if that was the case, it was stupid of them to put more than one Rogue in the same prison. Maybe it wasn't Cold next to him then.

The car came to an abrupt halt and Mark felt his chest bump into the seat in front of him. The person beside him didn't make a sound though he felt them move too.

Mark was handcuffed with chains that lead to the cuffs around his ankles. Tried to move his hands enough to maybe reach over and touch the guy beside him. Try to figure out if it really was Cold. Or if it was someone else. For all he knew it was some random prisoner who had no idea…

The door beside him opened and a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him outside. Mark tried to activate his powers, but they still weren't working.

Someone hit him in the back with a club. Mark fell to his knees, gasping for air. The asshole who hit him yanked him back up.

"Don't do that again."

The voice wasn't familiar. Wasn't some guard trying to assert their power over the new inmates. The voice almost sounded bored. Like it was used to people trying to conjure a tornado.

Mark bit back a retort.

If this was prison, he needed to keep his mouth shut. Figure out the situation. He didn't need the guards watching him closer than the others. Didn't need to get thrown in solitary on his first day. Be hard to escape from solitary when the other Rogues come.

So he kept moving forwards, the bag over his head making it so he couldn't see anything. He tried to listen for any sounds that would give away where he was. But he had never really been very good at paying attention to that kind of thing. He was sure Snart would know what prison they were in just by the buzzer that sounded when they went through the gate.

Though Mark didn't even hear a buzzer now that he thought about it.

Mark was pretty sure it was daytime. But he couldn't hear any of the sounds that he normally associated with a prison. There was no chatter from other inmates, no sounds of footsteps in the halls.

They must have walked through a door, because the next thing he knew he was freezing. The A/C shouldn't be this high. He had been in enough prisons to know most wardens were cheap bastards. Wouldn't waste the money on something like prisoner comfort.

A hand pushed him through the door, he heard something land with a thud beside him. The door closed behind him with a loud clang.

Mark waited a few seconds, then managed to reach up and pull the bag off of his head. He blinked at the sudden intrusion of lights.

It was so damn bright and...so freaking cold.

It was like a meat locker in here. The room was small and metal, the only thing in it besides him was a camera by the ceiling. Pointed directly at him.

And the other guy on the floor.

They weren't wearing prison uniforms. Mark was still in the clothes he had been wearing when he was taken.

Now he knew the other guy wasn't Snart. Unless the guy had taken to wearing jackets like old professors wear. Patches on the elbows and everything.

He bent down and pulled off the bag that was covering the other guy's head.

Huh.

Mark had no idea who this old guy was.

He poked him a few times. But the guy didn't move. Was still breathing but that was about all Mark could tell. All he really cared to check.

Mark looked directly at the camera.

"Where am I? Huh? What kind of prison is this?"

Mark didn't really expect a response, and was therefore slightly surprised when a voice came over an intercom.

"Remove your restraints."

"What?"

He waited a minute but no further instructions came. He wanted the cuffs off, wanted the damn leg chains off too.

"Screw you."

He wasn't going to try and use his powers just because some disembodied voice told him too.

"Where the hell is Snart? What did you..."

"Remove your restraints."

Mark ignored the voice and moved over to the corner of the room and sat down. He didn't care if he looked like a petulant child. He wasn't going to be ordered around by some mechanical voice.

It was even colder on the ground. But he ignored it.

The voice didn't come back. Apparently it wasn't going to punish him for not doing what he was told. Good to know. Mark could see his breath in front of him. Hell he might have to try and use his powers to warm the room up before too long.

The old guy finally started to move around.

"What..."

Guy was wearing a sweater and a jacket. Looked pretty warm. Mark might have to steal those off him later.

"Who are you?"

The old man turned towards Mark in the corner, surprise evident on his face.

"Dr. Martin Stein. And you are..."

Mark could tell by the way the guy asked that he knew exactly who Mark was.

"Mark Mardon."

"Yes...I've seen your mug shot."

"You get snatched by a bunch of assholes in suits too?"

"Yes, I was...Jefferson!"

He was pretty spry for an old man, especially in those chains. Jumped up and looked around the room like someone else was suddenly going to appear.

"No one but you and me old timer. So what did you do? You strike me as more the white collar type. Though I've met a few old guys that could give me a run for my money in the murder department."

"What? I'm...I'm not a criminal." Guy actually seemed a little offended by the implication.

"Must have done something to end up here."

"Oh really? And you know where here is exactly?" Guy had a real mouth on him. Mark was tempted to punch him.

Repeatedly.

"Gotta be a prison of some kind."

"You think there is a prison where they keep people in freezing lockers all day?"

"Yea. Sounds like something the government would try to keep metas in line."

The guy looked thoughtful for a second. As though he wanted to argue the point, but didn't have a flow chart or something handy.

"I see. And you are certain you didn't see anyone else? Were any other...metas taken when you were?"

"Cold was with me, but he ain't a meta. Course they tend to treat him like one because he's the guy with all the plans. Thought you were him for a second in the transport over here. Was just you and me in the van though."

The man seemed to be upset by that revelation.

"My...partner Jefferson was with me. He and I...we are metas as well."

Suddenly it clicks. One of those files that Cold had lying around dealing with potential threats.

"You're that guy that can set himself on fire. Flies around?"

"Yes. Firestorm is our code name, I don't believe we have ever met prior to this."

"Nah. But Mick's talked about you before. You got a real fan in him."

"How charming. Now as to..." Stein raised his arms up, indicating the chains holding his arms and legs from moving properly.

The damn intercom jumped on again.

"Remove the restraints."

"Good lord. Who are you? Why have you brought us here?"

"Not going to have any luck with that. Keep telling me to remove the restraints but haven't said anything else."

"Do your powers work in here?"

They hadn't worked outside, and he had gotten a hit from a guard for trying. This had to be some kind of trap. Still if his powers worked, had a better chance of blowing a hole through the door.

They were weak, but he could feel the stirrings of his powers.

He conjured a little bit of lightening and broke open the lock on the handcuffs. The chains fell to the ground.

Stein looked at him for a moment, then sort of impatiently shook his hands at Mardon. Mark thought about just letting the guy stay locked up. But he didn't know where he was or if he was the only Rogue in this particular prison. Would help to look like he had been helping the good guys if they were the ones to come looking first.

Another bolt of lightening and the old guys chains were off too.

"Well, that is much better. Thank you Mr. Mardon. I..."

Mark wasn't really sure what happened next. Just that he was suddenly on the floor. His head ached and his vision was blurry. It felt like his nose was bleeding.

Stein was kneeling over him, his hands on Mark's face. Yelling words that Mark couldn't hear, then he saw Stein being pulled away by dark figures. And everything went black.

Next time he woke up he was alone. Although it was more like a regular cell this time. A cot, a toilet, a small sink. Barely enough space to take three steps. His head still ached and it felt like he had the flu.

But now he was pissed.

He dragged himself off of the cot and started banging on the door.

"Hey! Let me out of here!"

He didn't hear any other noises. The door had a small window that was covered by a metal sliding panel. Like the kind they had in solitary at Iron Heights. He knew he had been right about this being a prison. He banged his hand a few more times, but his knocks kept getting weaker.

He was so damn tired all of a sudden. He tried to use his powers but nothing happened. He couldn't even feel them stirring. Whatever they had hit him with, it had knocked his powers out of commission.

He moved back over to the cot and laid down. He was so tired. His eyelids were heavy. For a moment he thought he heard the sound of banging somewhere farther away. But he couldn't focus on it. Couldn't even try to stay awake.

He woke up again in the same cell. Weak and tired. Not really sure how much time had passed. He was starting to get hungry so he figured it couldn't have been too long. There was a set of scrubs on the edge of his bed. And the cell door was open.

He knew this was a trap. But still he pulled himself up and walked to the door. He leaned heavily against the door frame. He peaked his head out into the hallway. The old guy from earlier was standing in the hallway, looking into another cell. Talking to someone. Mark looked into the cell directly across from his. There was a chick laying there. She looked as bad as he did.

She was laying in her bed, covered in sweat. Looked like she was mumbling in her sleep.

"Mr. Mardon."

Mark turned towards Stein, faltering slightly when his vision swam. He felt a hand grip his arm and guide him back towards the bed. Mark sat down heavily.

"Easy Mr. Mardon."

"What the hell is going on?" Mark meant for that to come across as angry. But his voice was so tired, it sounded almost resigned.

"I am not certain. But I know for a fact we are not being held by any government agency. The man in the cell across from me is Howard Barrons. He has no idea why he his here. Apparently he isn't even a meta human. I tried to gleam more information from him but..."

"What happened to me?"

"Ah, yes. Well it was rather fascinating actually. You used your powers and then there was this...device of some sort that appeared out of the wall. At first I thought it was some sort of energy weapon designed to contain your powers. But then the energy almost appeared to latch onto you and there was a high intensity feedback..."

"Feedback?"

"I believe that the weapon was not designed to hinder your powers, but rather to harness them."

"It tried to suck my powers out of me?"

"That isn't exactly accurate but I suppose it could be construed that way."

"Is that even possible?"

"Theoretically, it could siphon your powers into the device. Creating an energy reserve."

"They kidnapped me to be a battery? Then what the hell are you guys doing here and what is her problem?" Mark pointed towards the girl who was now thrashing on her bed.

"Oh god lord. Is she…?"

Stein didn't get the chance to finish his thought. Mark felt it, the sudden tingle in the air. He grabbed Stein's arm and pulled him back. Flipping the mattress off the bed and hiding them behind it. He wasn't really sure why. Wasn't like he owed the guy anything. Still, Stein seemed to know what the hell was going on. Might be useful to keep him alive.

Unlike that chick.

Who had just electrocuted her entire room. And herself.

Mark recognized that power though. That wasn't electricity coursing through her, burning her from the inside out.

It was lightening.

It was his lightening.

The old man tried to stand back up, but Mardon kept him down. Until he could feel the power leave. Until he was sure that the electricity still thrumming through the air wasn't enough to kill either of them. He let Stein go and stood up.

The girl was clearly dead. Nothing more than a burning husk.

Stein looked ill.

Mark looked over to the professor.

"Think your guy is still alive?"

"Oh dear, Mr. Barrons!"

Stein rushed out of the cell, towards where the other guy was holed up. He didn't hear what was said, but he heard two voices so the other guy must have made it. Mark pushed himself out of his cell. The adrenaline from a few moments ago the only thing keeping him on his feet. He wandered over to where Stein was standing.

"Mr. Barrons is alive. Although considerably upset. He..."

"How come they didn't put your powers in him?"

"My powers are fundamentally linked to my other half. I don't manifest any powers myself. Therefore they could have absorbed whatever power they could from me and placed it into Mr. Barrons but without Mr. Jackson's side of the equation. His powers remain in inert. Hopefully. Otherwise he will begin to leak radiation and…."

Mark put up a hand.

"I don't care that much. Just trying to get away from the smell."

Stein looked back down the hallway towards the still smoking room.

"Yes. I see."

Mark couldn't figure this out. So they were stealing meta human powers and trying to stuff them into normal people?

Why put him and Stein together? Where the hell was Cold? Were the non-meta Rogues being subjected to the other side of this experimentation?

Mark looked into Stein's cell, looked exactly the same has his. So did the cell the other guy was in. Mark would wait until the body stopped smoking before he checked out the dead chick's cell.

Mark was still tired, still feeling this strange absence of his powers. So when six guys in riot gear entered the hallway, he barely had time to react. He was on the floor with a knee in his spine before he could even think of fighting back.

"That is completely unnecessary, he isn't..."

One of the guards hit Stein in the stomach, old man didn't go down the way Mark figured he would. Mark laid there as they carted the chick's body away, spraying the room down.

Making it presentable for the next inmate.

Whoever was in charge, ran the place like a prison. Mark only saw the hallway he, Stein, and Barrons lived in. There was a cafeteria set up in the room next to their hallway. And a small library, about the size of a closet. But that was it. No, time out in the yard. No interacting with anyone else. There was no one in the cafeteria serving the food, it was all just put out for them when the door unlocked.

The voice on the intercom hadn't come back yet.

Which was leading Mark to think they might be the only three people in this place.

A couple weeks went by before they threw somebody else into the cell across from Mark. He had been biding his time, trying to figure anything out that he could. Anything that could lead the Rogues to his location. If Cold was being held somewhere, it could take awhile for the others to mobilize.

He hadn't let himself think that all the others had been caught too.

He had finally started to be able to feel the stirrings of his powers again, and suddenly this new guy shows up. Somehow they knew, Mark's powers were ready. Ready for another test.

Stein had been a consistently annoying presence. Man didn't know when to shut up. Mark might have threatened the guy a few times. At least he was a decent poker player. Better than that Barrons dude in any case.

Guy wouldn't stop crying. Stop saying he didn't deserve to be here. That he wasn't a freak. Stein had managed to stop Mark from the punching the guy once or twice.

Didn't stop him every time though. Guy still had his last shiner.

Mark wasn't looking forward to having his powers yanked out and stuck in someone else. Which is why he was working on a plan. Something that was probably going to get him killed, but he wasn't just going to sit around and be poked like some damn lab rat.

"Stein."

"Mr. Mardon. Our new cell mate is..."

"I don't care. Listen, I got an idea about how to get us out of here, but it's not pretty and I need your word on something."

"A...prison break. Believe me, Mr. Mardon I am all for leaving this savagery behind but we don't know where we are or what is outside this hallway. If others are looking for us..."

"You had any luck with your messages yet?" Mark pointed to the cut marks on Stein's arm. The guy had said he had a psychic link with his partner, that the kid would be able to respond.

From the old man's silence, Mark would assume that was a no.

"Alright. Look, I'm going to do something, but here is the thing. When it goes down, I might not be able to get myself out of here. So you are going to have to help carry me if I can't..."

"I'm sure between myself and Mr. Barrons and..."

"I don't know the new guy, and Barrons ain't going to be much help. We need to get out of here."

Stein's eyes narrowed.

"I'm not leaving either of them behind."

Mardon knew this was going to be a problem. Knew the old asshole was going to try and play the damn hero card.

"Listen old man. I don't much like having my powers sucked out. Yours apparently don't hurt to be removed, might even be saving your life from what you've said. So you don't get to lecture me on what's right and wrong right now. Alright? How long are you willing to sit on your ass and let your partner be tortured? Cause I'm betting it ain't so pleasant for him as it is for you."

Stein was glaring at him. But Mark could see the waver in his eyes.

Exploit the partner, that was the key.

"Mr. Barrons..."

"Is going to be crying in his cell and won't be in any condition to go on the run. Look at him. You know I'm right. He will slow us down, he will get us caught. We are only going to get one chance before they use stricter measures to keep us down. So you in or not?"

Stein lifted his chin.

"It doesn't sound like I have a choice in the matter. But, if Mr. Barrons is able, he will be coming with us."

"Whatever you say old timer. Just be ready."

Two guards took Mardon and the new guy out of the living area.

Mardon didn't see where they took the other guy, just that he was back in the meat locker again.

"I'm guessing this is where you tell me to use my powers?"

Mardon looked at the camera, but no voice was forthcoming.

He had only been able to summon a small bit of lightening in his hands, but the chick they put it in had been practically exploding with it.

Mardon focused on wind. On small circular patterns rising around him. It wasn't going to be much. Just a small tornado around him. But he focused on it, kept the wind low at first. Then as the device behind him came out of the wall, he hit it with a blast of wind as quickly and as strong as he could.

He was back in his cell and his whole body ached. It was worse than last time. The more they did this, the weaker he was going to get. Stein was standing over him.

"Mr. Mardon?"

"Get me over to him..." Mark's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't think..."

"Hurry." Mark wasn't going to be conscious for very long. He needed to do this now.

Stein helped pull him up and half carried, half dragged him over to the other cell. Mark sort of sat on the ground beside the man on the cot. He was already sweating and looking like he might explode.

"You can hear it, can't you? Like a whisper. Calling to you. It's like this buzzing in your mind. Driving you crazy, but keeping you sane at the same time. But it's just a whisper now. You want to hear it scream. You want to bring it closer. Make it louder. Make it block out everything else."

Mark could almost hear the sound of the wind whipping around outside. A wind was also picking up around them.

"That's it. Almost. Bring it right to you. Feel it screaming now. Scream with it. It's all yours."

The building started to shake. Stein pulled Mark up and dragged him out of the cell, he threw Mark into the small book closet and then rushed out and grabbed his mattress to throw over them.

The sound of the walls being torn away was deafening. Since Mark had learned to control the weather, he had never felt fear when the wind was so close.

Now he wasn't so sure it wouldn't just drag them both away. Flinging them up into the sky like so much useless debris.

Then, just as suddenly, the wind died.

Stein quickly looked out of what was left of their small hiding space.

"My god."

Mark didn't really know too much else. He could hear Stein arguing with Barrons. Then he was being pulled to his feet.

"That's it Mr. Mardon, one foot in front of the other. Apparently Mr. Barrons has decided he would be better off on his own and is currently running in the opposite direction I told him to."

Mark couldn't understand most of what Stein was saying, the words all running together as background noise. Mark was trying to focus keeping one foot in front of the other. That was all that mattered in his world. Everything else was beyond his capabilities at this point.

He didn't know how long they kept moving, stumbling at their half hearted pace. It was hot, too hot. And Stein was breathing rather heavily in Mark's ear.

He felt his foot catch on something but wasn't able to stop the fall. They both crashed into the ground.

God he was so tired.

Stein slapped him across the face. He was going to have to remember to hit the old man for that later.

"Now is not the time to rest, we..."

Stein looked over the ridge, his eyes narrowing in on something. Mark could barely focus on the black dot coming towards them.

A car.

They were found.

Mark used what little power he had left to push Stein away from him.

"Go...get others…."

"I did not carry you halfway across some godforsaken desert just to leave you here. Besides there is little place for us to hide. Best we face this new threat together."

Goddamn heroes were all the same. Couldn't see the logic in splitting up. In keeping one man free to get help.

If Mark had the energy, he would have punched the old man in the face for his stupidity.

Instead he just laid his head down and stared up above him.

Not a cloud in the sky.

It was kind of nice.

Peaceful way to go at least.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My computer glitched out on me and I lost half of this chapter and half of chapter 5. Which really killed my motivation for awhile. I've started rewriting the next chapter so hopefully it won't take me too long to get back into it. It bothers me to no end that this chapter isn't exactly the way I had it written the first time.

Roy didn't know what to think about the…man on the screen.

He was a man technically.

Biologically, at least, he was a human.

All the blood, hair, and tissue samples that they had taken came to the same conclusion.

Duncan Lindy.

A completely ordinary man by all accounts.

Except for the fact that Duncan Lindy had died a few years back in a hiking accident. Fell right off the side of a mountain, spilling his brains everywhere.

There were photos, autopsy reports. Duncan Lindy was dead.

He wasn't one of the men who tried to take him in Prague. Whoever was doing this, there were multiple versions of multiple people. Something to do with genetic variances…

Roy hadn't really listened when Doctor Snow had been explaining it. She and Cisco were still talking via a video feed. The small screen set up on the dining room table.

They had moved their captive to another site. Somewhere just outside Central City. An old farm house where Mick assured them no one would ever think to look for them. They had the man tied up in the barn. A camera was set up, keeping a constant watch on their captive.

The Rogues were currently sitting around the living room of the farm house. Axel was on his laptop. Switching between gathering information and annoying Cisco with random inane questions. Such as which was a better Schwarzenegger clone movie, Twins or the 6th Day? Cisco had looked so offended, Roy thought he might try to reach through the screen and slap Axel.

Lisa had put a stop to it after fifteen minutes. For a second, Roy had sworn Lisa was going to send Axel up to his room without supper. Lisa and Mick were going over the files that Cisco had sent them. All the information they had found. On the clone, on the facilities.

It wasn't much.

Roy kept his eyes on the video feed. Watching the prisoner. Watching the Flash try and talk to the man. The volume was turned down, but Roy could tell the Flash was getting frustrated. His words having no effect on the completely unresponsive prisoner.

So far, the clone hadn't spoken a word. He sat and stared at them with no response. No matter what they said, what they threatened, he offered no reply.

The Flash had wanted the chance to try and convince the man to help them. Appeal to the man's better nature.

Almost thirty minutes later and still the Flash was getting no where.

Mick had offered his particular brand of skills about fifteen minutes ago. The Flash had outright refused. Then he had barred all of them from the barn.

The Flash hadn't trusted any of the Rogues to be left alone with the prisoner.

Which was rude, but Roy didn't comment.

The Flash suddenly sped off the screen and was in the living room before Roy had the chance to turn around.

"Any luck?" Lisa framed it as a question, but said it with a tone that implied she already knew the answer.

"Nothing. The guy won't say a word. How are we on…"

Cisco cut in over the second screen that was set up.

"We have run every sample you got us Blood, hair, dental... Everything says that this dude is straight up dead. And not like, oh he disappeared in a freaky boating accident around the Bermuda Triangle dead. But like 100% I'm looking at his autopsy photos and won't be able to eat for a few days dead."

"We told you he was a clone." Axel had six Twizzlers in his mouth, so his words were a bit garbled.

"Yea, ok. But I mean come on. Clones? We're really at clones now? Like meta humans weren't enough now some company watched Multiplicity a few too many times and decided that would be a good business model?" There was a sound behind Cisco and for a moment, and then Hartley was visible.

Roy had been relieved to see the kid alive and safe. Apparently he had been injured, hadn't been able to make it to Kansas City right away.

The Flash had filled them in. Told them about Hartley hiding out with them until they could figure out what was going on, who had been taken.

Roy had felt the knot in his stomach untwist slightly when he had first seen Hartley over the video feed. The kid had looked just as annoyed and superior as the last time Roy had seen him.

The kid had launched almost immediately into some sort of tirade about what was happening. How he was going to figure it all out. How he was surprised they weren't all dead without him.

Roy had never been so happy to be insulted.

Lisa…had appeared angry when she first saw Hartley. But the look had lasted only a moment. Roy was certain he had just been imagining it. Hartley was safe. One less thing for them to worry about. One less person to be searching for.

"So what's the plan now Flash? Keep offering him chocolates and friendship bracelets?" Lisa was getting tired of sitting around. Of waiting to find out where the rest of their missing members were. Of coming up with nothing.

Roy didn't want to think about what could be happening to the other Rogues right now. Mardon and Shawna would be getting their powers drained. Cold…

Roy glanced back at the video feed. The clone was just sitting there. Completely still. He hadn't spoken, had barely reacted when the Flash had wrapped some bandages around the wounds.

Roy had watched the man's face the entire time. Looking for something. Anything that could give them an edge.

There was no anger, no fear, nothing in the man's eyes.

Roy got an idea.

"I'll talk to him."

They all turned and looked at him.

"Wait, seriously bro? No offense, but you're not like, the most personable of people. I mean, what are you going to do? Paint him a portrait?" Axel looked up from the computer he had been typing on. He had made a game out of trying to find information before Hartley could. Making little lines on his arm with a sharpie whenever he scored a point. Several of the lines had turned into smiley faces at some point.

Mick smacked him on the back of the head.

"Ow, dude. What?"

Mick just grunted in response.

Lisa gave Roy a quick look, raising her eyebrow. She took a look at Roy's face. Then nodded her head.

Roy turned and headed towards the barn. The Flash appeared in front of him. He placed a hand on Roy's chest.

"I said no…"

"No torture. Yes, I know. You have my word. I won't touch the man."

The Flash didn't look at all convinced by that. Especially since Roy's powers didn't rely on touch.

"I'm going to be in there with you."

"Yes, yes."

Roy walked into the barn.

The man was still tied to the chair, his face impassive. Not planning an escape, not trying to find anyway out. Just…waiting for them to do whatever they were going to do.

If they let him go, if they tortured him, if they sent him back to his employers, if they killed him…

It was all the same to him.

The Flash stood off to the side.

The Flash being there would have been a problem for any other Rogue interrogation. The prisoner would know that the Flash would never let the Rogues follow through on their threats of pain.

Roy wasn't going to threaten pain.

At least, not the kind of pain most people feared.

Roy pulled up a chair. Sitting directly across from the prisoner. The prisoner had to know who Roy was, how Roy's powers worked. But the clone didn't flinch, didn't steel himself for whatever was to come. He looked at Roy the same way he had been looking at the wall.

"How old is he, do you think?"

Roy looked at the Flash. The Flash looked slightly confused by Roy's question.

"What?"

"How old do you think he is? He's a clone correct? So he was likely created somewhat recently. Perhaps he is only a few days old. Or a few weeks. Would you even know how old you were? Do you have the memories of the person you were cloned from? Would those make you believe that you were still the same age as Duncan Lindy?"

The man continued to stare impassively at Roy. Roy understood that. He knew he wasn't the most intimidating of the Rogues. People tended to ignore Roy in favor of watching out for Mick or Digger. Someone who looked like the might snap your neck just for fun.

Roy was content to be underestimated.

"Do you remember them as he did? Or is it more like...like watching a home movie from your childhood? The images are there, but the emotions...the emotions aren't retained. You don't remember why you were laughing so hard. Or why you were wearing those clothes. You can't remember the way you thought then."

The man continued to stare.

"You know it's you. You see it. But you can't really say you experienced it. For example. You must be in pain. Those burns that Mick inflicted. Even with the medicine. And most people react to pain inflicted upon them with anger. You should hate us for what we did to you."

Roy paused a moment. Staring directly into the man's eyes.

"Do you hate us? Can you hate us? Do you feel emotions the way he did? Did they give them to you when you were created? Or do you not have his memories? Is there nothing in your mind but the most recent of experiences? Are you nothing more than…a blank canvas?"

Roy activated his powers for a split second. Just long enough for the man's eyes to flash red, then he released him just as suddenly.

The man appeared stunned. His body shook with the sudden change. His breath came in ragged gasps.

And Roy knew.

This man had never felt any emotions.

"What about joy? Or sorrow?"

Roy switched between the two quickly. Making the man in front of him unsure of which emotion was happiness and which was pain.

There were tears in the clone's eyes.

Roy saw the Flash take a step forward out of the corner of his eye, then stop himself. Roy wasn't breaking their deal. He wasn't technically torturing the man. Just letting him feel emotions that had been buried inside.

Emotions he had never been allowed to feel before.

"It's alright." Roy's voice was soothing. The man diverted his eyes, staring solely at the ground. He closed his eyes like a petulant child. Roy stood up and put his hand under the man's chin. The man opened his eyes reluctantly.

"They convinced you you weren't human didn't they. Just a tool to be used and thrown away. But now you know. You know you can feel emotions. You can experience everything they told you you couldn't. Love..."

Roy had never actually tried that one before. He didn't think it was actually love. More like a sudden burst of euphoria and desire. He had no intention of testing that emotion out on any of the Rogues. Or anyone for that matter.

And he had never figured it would come in handy on a mission.

So he let the feeling linger in the man's mind for another moment. Whether it was real love or not, the clone would not be able to tell.

"...fear." The switch this time was slower. Changing to allow the man to know the stark difference. And the connection between the two. How love can influence fear. How fear can stem from losing love.

"...please...please stop."

It was the first time the man had spoken. The first indication that anything they had tried would work. Roy thought about stopping, about asking all his questions now…

But he needed this man to tell them the truth. Need him to feel something that he couldn't bear to lose. He released the man from fear.

"These are just our most basic emotions. There are so many, many more. You didn't remember them, did you? Remembered the thought of them at least. You knew they were things that Duncan Lindy must have experienced…But you didn't remember how they felt. Tell me...if we let you go, if we send you back to your masters, will they take them from you again? Will they allow you to feel any of these things?"

The man shook his head. Roy could see emotions in his eyes now. Could see a fear that Roy didn't have to create.

It was easy to let go of fear. To lose love. To put sorrow behind you. These were all things that most people could move past.

But there was one emotion, one feeling that people couldn't live without.

Hope.

Another emotion Roy had never tried to use on someone before.

Roy hadn't had too much experience with hope himself. In his line of work, hope was something that got you killed. Hoping that your partners wouldn't betray you, that everything would go according to plan. Back when he was on his own, back when he was still trying to make it as an artist, hope had been a very dangerous thing.

It had nearly killed him then.

Had made him believe in things he shouldn't have. People he shouldn't have. So he had pushed it down and forgotten all about it. Becoming complacent in a life he knew he would never escape.

Until the particle accelerator.

Until the Rogues.

Then hope had wormed its way back in. And now it was a part of him again. It was why he hadn't allowed himself to think on the possibility that the others were dead. That they were being ripped apart by some faceless agency. Hope was keeping him focused on what was in front of him. On the job that needed done.

If he didn't have hope, he would have given up.

What would it be like to feel hope for only a moment, then live the rest of your life without it?

"Tell me. Do you remember hope? How it spreads through your chest, how it can sneak into your heart?"

"Please don't...I can't...I'll tell you whatever..."

"Bivolo..." Apparently making a clone beg was the Flash's level of tolerance. Best do this quickly before the hero's conscience undoes all his hard work.

Roy grabbed the man's chin and forced him to look him directly in the eyes.

"You would never be able to get rid of it. No matter how hard you tried. You would tell yourself you could go back to what you were, a mindless drone for this company you work for. But you couldn't, because there, buried deep in your heart, would be that smallest sliver of hope. Hope that you could be more than you were told you were. You will wonder for the rest of your life, if you are capable of feeling it on your own. If this pure, untainted emotion was even a part of you. Or something I created."

"It would twist at you, it would influence every decision you made. Hope is a funny thing like that. It makes you want to be different. It makes you want to be more than what you are. They would see it in you wouldn't they? They would see it and they would take it from you. Is that what you want?"

The clone was crying now.

"No…please. I...Cadmus! The people I work for, the ones that created me...it's called Cadmus. They...I don't know anything about Project Parasite, but I know where all the holding sites are. I can get access to the logs, I can find exactly where they are. Please...please don't...I want..."

Roy dropped the man's chin and took a step back.

The Flash was looking at Roy. Not quite horrified, but not exactly excited that they had managed to get the information they were looking for. The hero finally stepped in between Roy and the prisoner. Attempting to take back control of the situation.

"We aren't going to send you back. If you cooperate…"

"I'll cooperate. Please, I'll tell you everything you need to know. I can tell you the exact locations of every single meta that was taken. Every non-meta too…please…please don't…"

The Flash looked back at Roy. Roy raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds like you should get that man a computer."

The Flash hesitated. Then sped out of the room. He was back before Roy could so much as take a step towards the prisoner.

Roy turned and walked back towards the house. Lisa was walking towards him. He stopped just outside the barn.

"Not bad Roy."

"I do what I can."

Lisa smirked.

"Emotional torture. That's a new one."

"I like to think of it as emotional reawakening."

"Call it whatever you like, you're the artist."

It was hours before the clone was able to give them any real information. His access to the Cadmus system was restricted. Eventually, with the help of Axel and Hartley, Cisco was able to decode the information they had downloaded.

There were hundreds of "holding" facilities. They were spread throughout the world. The list seemed to go on and on.

"So we have a complete list of the facilities, but we haven't been able to decrypt the lists that state who is being held where. And we don't even know if they will be listed by name. It might just be by their power set." Cisco was only half paying attention to them as he kept his eyes focused on the list in front of him.

Even Axel had been uncharacteristically serious as the three of them attempted to decrypt and sort through the information.

The Flash had been getting progressively more jittery as time went on. Roy could swear the boy was vibrating in place.

"Keep at it Cisco. We can start searching the locations we do have if…"

Lisa put a hand around the Flash's arm, stopping his movement towards the door.

"We aren't going to waste our time looking at a bunch of dead ends. Shawna, Mark, and Lenny are our priorities. They're the only ones we care about."

"So you're willing to just let this Cadmus experiment on innocent people until then."

"If it doesn't tip them off, then yes. They can do whatever they want to…"

Roy was certain that the battle of wills between Lisa and the Flash would have continued had a phone not suddenly started ringing. Both of them stopped.

Lisa patted her pocket.

"Not mine." She looks towards Mick. He shakes his head. She looks over at Axel.

"I don't even know what my ringtone sounds like. I mean seriously. Who still calls people?"

It takes Roy a second to remember that he has a cell phone in his pocket. He pulls it out as everyone in the room stares at him.

There is only one person it could be.

"Digger?"

"Thought you'd forgotten all about me mate. Letting the phone ring and ring like that."

Roy couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him. One more Rogue accounted for. Digger, as per usual, just kept talking.

"You meet up with anyone else yet?"

"Lisa, Mick, Axel, and Hartley all managed to escape. Cold, Shawna and Mark are still missing."

"Don't worry, I got the rain man here with me."

Lisa made a motion with her hands, and Roy set the phone down on the table.

"Digger has Mark."

He put the phone on speaker and Lisa leaned in closer.

"And where is here exactly?"

"Little town just south of the middle of nowhere. Don't worry love, safe as houses."

"Mark?"

"Sleeping off whatever they were doing to him. Old man that was with him says they were getting their powers sucked out."

Lisa explained what they had found out. About the clones and Cadmus. Apparently Digger had been able to find a few of their bases himself. Sounded like the man was in Europe somewhere. But was reluctant to say where exactly.

"Might be best we stick on this side of the pond for now. In case we need to get to someone over here right quick. Ask this agent to get Snart's location first. Meta humans have a bit more use to Cadmus than…"

"We got it Digger."

"Alright love, gotta go make sure Mardon hasn't started a tornado in the room. I'm not paying for any water damages."

"Don't be an idiot Digger."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

Lisa hung up.

"Axel, send everything you have to the IP address that Digger gave you. If he is in Europe he should be able to…"

"I'm going to go start looking for people."

The Flash was determined. Already looking like he was just going to disappear.

"Now listen here Flash. We have helped you out. You wouldn't have any of this information if it wasn't for us. You are going to help find the missing Rogues first then you can…"

"It doesn't work like that. I can't just ignore people who are suffering. When…the prisoner gives you the exact locations of the other Rogues, then we can talk. Until then, I'm going to go save as many people as I can."

The Flash was gone without another word.

Roy wondered how many arguments the Flash won by just getting in the last word and speeding away.

"Well….I guess that's our cue to sign off. Let us know when you have exact locations."

Cisco was about to push the button that would disconnect the video feed.

Lisa turned quickly and looked at the young man.

"Let me talk to Hartley."

"I…Ok. Yo, Hart!"

Hartley appeared on the screen.

"I've already run down a list of the potential areas that they could be holding Cold and Shawna. Based on Shawna's powers and the types of meta human holding cells that were installed I have it narrowed down to four locations. Only one of which is in the United States. We need the information that the clone can provide to find Cold, since he is a non-meta he could be housed at any location."

"And you'll do everything you can to find him."

Hartley was speechless for a moment.

"Of course."

"Even if the Flash tells you to work on something else. You'll keep searching for my brother."

"Lisa, what are you trying to say?"

"I think you know what I'm saying. Get to work Hartley."

Lisa cut off the video feed.

"Now then. Roy, why don't you go chat with our prisoner again? Make sure he is properly motivated to find my brother's location."

Roy nodded and left the room.

It took hours for them to finally figure out where Cold was being held. Hours of waiting for computer programs to run. Of waiting for any word that perhaps the Flash had lucked upon the missing Rogues.

Lisa tried to contact the Flash when they finally got the location of her brother. But the Flash wasn't in North America any more.

"Sorry Lisa, but the Flash is already getting pretty close to his limits. Running back and forth. He's going to have to take a break soon."

Lisa had almost smashed her phone when she hung up on Cisco.

So Lisa sent the information to Digger. He was the closest, the only one who could get there. Trusting that the mercenary would do whatever it took to find her brother and bring him home.

Now all they could do was wait.

Wait for word on Cold. Wait until their plan was together so they could go get Shawna.

Wait to find out what had been done to their missing members.

Wait. And hope.

 

* * *

 

This whole thing was a big bloody mess.

Digger had spent the better part of the last three months trying to figure out what the hell was going on. And not having too much luck with it.

After he had dropped off Owen and his parents, he had wandered around a bit. Decided he wasn't quite ready to head back to Central.

Especially if Cold was just going to kill him when he did.

I mean, they said he was still a Rogue, but that didn't mean nothing when someone gets right pissed about a little thing like betrayal.

So, yea, maybe he had been delaying a bit. Taking the scenic route as it were. He was covering his tracks too. Making sure no one would ever find Owen again. No one would ever be able to use that weakness against him again.

It was an old contact from his ARGUS days who had reached out. Asked Digger if he was looking for some work.

Some easy money.

Which, Digger always was. He had spent the vast majority of what he had on buying off people and getting new identities made. So he was running a little low. Might as well take a job or two. If people thought he wasn't with the Rogues any more, it could work to his advantage.

Turns out, betraying the bastards might have actually saved their asses.

Well, some of their asses anyway.

The job had been easy enough. Break into some building, kill any witnesses. Steal something or other. Didn't really ask too many questions. Wouldn't have even thought twice about it til he was getting paid.

Rogers was handing him his cut when the laptop started beeping. Making a racket. The information they stole was apparently good. Rogers had looked mighty pleased with himself.

"You want to stick around. Run another errand for me? Heard you were working solo again."

"Yea, you know me mate. Never did play too well with others."

Rogers had looked happy at that response.

"Good. My employers might have some questions for you regarding your former associates."

Digger had gone along with it. Decided he should see who these employers were. Find out what they were paying, then decide what to do with the information.

So he met up with Rogers and some bloke in a suit about a week later. Some shitty bar that even Digger thought could use a cleaning.

"Mr. Harkness."

"Who's the suit?"

"My name is not important. What is important is some information I was hoping you could provide."

"Rogers said as much."

"Indeed. Mr. Rogers has been working for our organization for some time. He assures me that...for the proper price, you would be willing to work with us."

"I'll do pretty much anything for the proper price."

The suit hadn't smiled but there was a definite look in his eyes. Like he wanted to smile but wasn't born with the muscles for it.

"The Rogues have a bit of a reputation. We were hoping you could give us some information that might help us...better prepare."

"Haven't been with 'em in a couple months. Might have changed some access codes and safe houses since then. Didn't really leave them on the best of terms, what with stabbing a few of them and all."

"Yes. And yet you managed to escape..."

"Flash was there. Wouldn't let Cold kill me. Was able to get away once they handed me over to the cops."

"I see. There are several meta members of the team and several non-metas. Mr. Mardon, Ms. Baez, and Mr. Bivolo are the meta humans correct?"

Digger was familiar with this type of interrogation technique. Ask a bunch of easily verifiable questions, make the mark think you didn't know too much. Then hit them with a question that seems simple enough, but is a bit of a trick. Has a hidden meaning to it somewhere.

"That's right. Mardon's the strongest, can control the weather. Although Bivolo can be a bit scary when he wants to be. Can do a bit more than people think. Baez is used mostly for her getaways. Though she's been working on making herself stronger, go farther distances, that sort of thing. Can use live video streams to get where she needs to go now. Oh, and Mardon can fly."

Digger wasn't sure if they knew about that last part, but it was always good to give a little bit extra. Wasn't like it wasn't something they could find if they were as good as Digger thought they were.

"Interesting. And the non-metas, they have advanced weaponry, correct?"

"Yea, Cold, Lisa, and Mick all got guns they stole from STAR Labs originally. Although at this point they all know their weapons so well, they could rebuild them from scratch if they had to. Piper makes his own stuff. Don't really know too much about his designs though, kid's pretty secretive about it."

The suit had raised an eyebrow at that.

Damn.

Something about all this wasn't quite right. Rogers had been a bit of a shady bastard at ARGUS but he had never really seemed like the treason type. And this suit, there was something about the way he held himself that Digger didn't like.

"Interesting, now as far as..."

Digger pulled a boomerang and sliced the suit's throat. Rogers barely had time to react before he had a similar wound of his own. Both men fell over dead. Nobody in the bar even so much as looked up.

Which is probably why the suit had chosen this place. Was going to do the same thing to Digger once he got the information he needed.

Probably could have been smarter about that. Waited a bit longer, found out who the suit worked for. But Digger's instincts had told him to kill the guy, so he had. He never ignored that instinct when it flared up in a conversation like that one. Had served him pretty well so far.

He quickly searched them both. Not finding anything on the suit except a needle. Bastard wasn't even going to pay him. Rogers had a few bucks, so Digger took those on principle.

He found a place to hole up for a few days and then started looking at the copy of the hard drive he had made.

If Rogers hadn't wanted Digger to steal that information, he shouldn't have left him alone with it for a few minutes.

It was a bunch of plans of old military buildings. Ones all over the world. Different military specs in different languages. They were all being brought up to code. New security systems, new reinforced doors and walls.

And what looked like anti-meta technology.

Whoever these bastards were. They were gearing up for something big.

Digger quickly did a check of where all the Rogues were. Roy was the closest, if he was still in Prague. One of the military bases was in that country, and it had designs for a room with no window. No lights either. So Digger made a quick trip over.

Spent a couple days tailing Roy. Seeing if anyone was watching him. Turns out his instincts were right. Two assholes tried to grab Roy coming out of a museum. Slippery bastard managed to shoot one of them and get away.

Digger had been a little impressed at Roy's fortitude. Making it as far as he did with a bullet in him.

Digger killed both of the agents and dumped their bodies in the river. By the time he found Roy the bastard had bled everywhere. Took some extra precautions after that.

Digger had checked on the positions of the others as soon as he had dumped Roy off in that hospital.

Hadn't been good news.

Missing. The whole lot of them.

It should have taken years for an Op like this to get underway. Yet somehow these bastards were pulling it off in months.

He told Roy to head back to Central, then continued to follow the patterns he could.

He looked at several of the plans, deciding on which ones would most likely be used for the members of the Rogues. Problem was, this was only a partial list. And he still didn't know who was doing the grabbing.

Which was impressive.

And telling.

Needed a lot of money to pull this off. Which ruled out most government agencies. So it was a private thing. Was able to narrow it down from there too.

Couple companies on the list, though he didn't think a few would be involved he still had to check them all out.

By the time he managed to determine the locations of a few more of the bases, he was beginning to think he needed some back up.

He had made a list of all the potential sites that could be housing Rogues. There was one a couple countries over. Had installed some pretty interesting machinery. The barometric gauges had been a pretty good indicator of who he might find there.

He staked the place out for a few days. Watched the guards go in and out. Once he saw them bring in two new prisoners. Other than that it was the same routine every day.

Up until a tornado had damn near wiped the building off the map. Diggers car had almost flipped over from the force of the winds. Eventually he was able to get his car going and head after the escapees. Followed one bloke's tracks for a little bit. But that bastard was heading straight into the desert. Idiot would be dead before too long heading that way.

So he went back and followed the other set of tracks.

The old man glaring at him was a less than welcome guest.

Had almost left him behind except he had tried to hit Digger when he went to grab Mardon.

Which had endeared the old coot to him a little. Spry for an old man.

He holed the three of them up in a shitty hotel in a shitty side of an even shittier town.

The old man had actually raised his nose up in the air at it.

"You couldn't have found something a little less…moldy."

"Moldy builds character. Strengthens the lungs."

"That is the exact opposite of what it does." Mardon was still out cold, Digger had tossed him on top of the bed. Man should probably get a couple vaccinations after laying there. Old man kept looking at Digger like being in this hotel was worse than the prison they had been in.

"At least it was…sanitary. We should go back. Look for clues."

"You can be a super sleuth on your own time mate. Not going to find nothing."

"Really? So we will find something then?"

Digger raised an eyebrow at the man. Stein, think he said his name was, looked frustrated and went back to trying to make sure Mardon was comfortable.

"Nevermind. I'm not saying I'm not grateful for the rescue. We were lucky you came along before our captors returned."

"They weren't coming back."

"What? What on earth are you talking about, they wouldn't go through all that trouble just to…"

"I imagine you're one of them real smart types yea? Work in a big fancy lab like STAR used to be before they made everything weird?"

"Not sure a man who uses boomerangs as a weapon gets to define anyone else as weird. But…"

"You're used to having a bunch of money and a bunch of fancy equipment. But eventually that money runs out don't it? Gotta go ask for more or whatever you lot do. Point is, if you never ran out of money, you wouldn't care if something broke or you had to toss a perfectly good telescope or something. Cause you could always just get another one."

"You think they were just going to leave us to die?"

"Nah, once Mardon here blew a hole out of the side of the building they just abandoned it. Sent out a signal saying the place was compromised. What's it matter if one rat escapes? They got plenty more rats, and plenty more cages."

"So you don't think they'll come after us?"

"If we make a big enough stink, they will. Try to go to the cops or join up with the heroes maybe. Try to leak the info to the public or ARGUS and they'll come after us with all they got. Gotta keep a lid on it. But if we lay low, go to ground, they should leave us be for now."

"Until they decided they need to scrap the project and tie up any lose ends."

"Now you're getting it. Long as their experiments are working somewhere, they don't care about us. Once they're done, then we got problems. Don't imagine you keep the rats alive after they've gone through the maze a few times. Don't need 'em anymore once all the data's in place."

"That is barbaric. Who is behind this?"

"Working on that. Keep an eye on the Wiz. I gotta make a call."

"I thought you said to lay low."

"Don't worry your britches. Subtlety's my thing."

There was a pay phone couple blocks away. He called the cell phone he had left with Roy. Man picked up after the fourth ring. Good to know the guy kept it on him.

"Digger?"

"You meet up with anyone else yet?"

"Lisa, Mick, Axel, and Hartley all managed to escape. Cold, Shawna and Mark are still missing."

"Don't worry, I got the rain man here with me." The was a small sound, then Digger could hear the sounds of a few people moving about. Put on speaker phone then.

"And where is here exactly?"

Lisa's tone was demanding, and just as sexy as he remembered it to be. Still wasn't sure she wasn't going to just stab him in the eye next time he saw her.

Worth the risk.

"Little town just south of the middle of nowhere. Don't worry love, safe as houses."

"Mark?"

"Sleeping off whatever they were doing to him. Old man that was with him says they were getting their powers sucked out."

"Yes, we've come to the same conclusion. Found one of their bases here."

"You never cease to amaze me love."

He could almost hear her roll her eyes at him. Get that sexy little annoyed face she always gets.

"We have a list of potential site where the other Rogues might be."

"I got a list of my own. We'll have to compare notes…"

"Cadmus."

"What?"

"It's the company behind all this."

"Damn, I had it on my list of potentials. How'd you get it narrowed down?"

Lisa hesitated for a moment.

"Roy was able to get the information out of one their agents. How long will it take you to get back here?"

Roy? How the hell did he weasel it out of someone?

"Might be best we stick on this side of the pond for now. In case we need to get to someone over here right quick. Ask this agent to get Snart's location first. Meta humans have a bit more use to Cadmus than…"

"We got it Digger."

"Alright, gotta go make sure Mardon hasn't started a tornado in the room. I'm not paying for any water damages."

"Don't be an idiot Digger."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

Digger hung up the phone and headed back to the hotel. Mardon was still out, and the old man had fallen asleep in the chair by the bed.

Bet that position was going to be murder on the man's back.

Digger opened up the stolen laptop and found out as much as he could about Cadmus, and their research. He sent Axel his list and they sent theirs in return. Couple on there he didn't have. But they needed to narrow it down. At least they didn't have to go through every base if this agent could tell them where Shawna and Cold were.

Couple hours later, Lisa sends him a location. Couple countries over, but shouldn't take more than a day for him to get to. Supposed to be where they're keeping Cold.

Lisa says to get there now. Not waste any more time.

He tells her about Stein. Gets a weird message back saying to bring the old man with them when they head home. Some kind of deal with the Flash. Digger don't ask about it. Lisa didn't sound to happy that the Flash was rushing off to other locations instead of helping her brother first.

Old man don't look too happy when Digger says he's going to leave them.

"I still don't even know what country we are in. And you are just going to abandon us to..."

"Look I'm not going to kill Mardon cause he's...a teammate. But you, you I don't know. And to be quite honest if I killed you before Mardon wakes up I could just tell him you died in the desert. So how about you quit questioning my every move before I come to my senses and realize how easy it would be to leave your body in the street."

The geezer opened and closed his mouth a few times. Then glared at Digger as he started to pack up a little kit he had. Money he would need, passports and the like.

The old guy was quiet for almost ten minutes, which Digger figured had to be some kind of record.

"Listen, you...you shouldn't do this alone. Wait until Mr. Mardon regains some of his strength and..."

"That could take awhile. Gotta get to Cold before he gets himself killed."

"I..." He looked between Digger and Mardon. "We will be here then. Good luck Mr. Harkness."

Digger left without another look. Old guy would watch out for Mardon. He left him a few guns to defend themselves. Should be ok.

He made it to the facility where Cold was supposed to be without any problems. He was beginning to think this Cadmus knew it would only be a matter of time before someone found them. That they did this all at once so they could get as much information as possible before they got discovered.

Digger didn't wait until the six guards who entered an hour ago left. Something was telling him he needed to get in there now.

They were wearing body armor. Might have even been able to put up a bit of a fight against someone else. But Digger was highly skilled and highly motivated. Plus he hadn't been in a proper fight in awhile now. He had been itching for it.

Six dead bodies in the hallway. Plus the two doctor looking types he killed in the side room that kinda looked like a kitchen. He grabbed an apple off the table and took a bite, then threw it in the trash.

All he had to do now was find Cold and this whole mess would be over. They'd head back to Central, round up all these Cadmus bastards and make them pay for causing all this grief.

He knew there would be a room with the prisoners, and a couple experimenting rooms. He went for the prisoner rooms first.

He half expected to see Snart sitting on a cot, giving Digger that look like he couldn't believe it had taken him this long to find him.

There were only two metas in the cells. One of which can barely move. Must have had his powers sucked out recently.

The other was just sitting in the corner of his cell, rocking back and forth. Muttering to himself. Some people just couldn't take prison and torture. Snapped their minds right in two. He debated on killing that one for a second. Probably be doing the poor bastard a favor in the long run. But he left him babbling in the corner and searched the other cells.

They were empty.

That didn't bode well.

He found a room like Stein had described from the other place. Funny looking device hanging out of the wall. Then there was another room with a bunch of wires and doodads hanging over an operating table. Table had metal restraints on it too. Must be where they brought the normal ones.

The ones that got powers shoved in them. Can't imagine that was very pleasant. Must be what all the restraints were for.

Only one reason Cold wouldn't be in the cell or this room.

He found a stairwell that lead down to a basement. Got colder as he walked down. There was a heavy metal door at the bottom. Opening it up, it was clear what this room was.

Failed experiments.

He didn't hesitate to enter the room. Not even when he saw the four body bags laying out.

Two on the ground.

Two up on tables.

Didn't hesitate when he unzipped the first bag on the ground. Just some nameless chick, body cold. Been dead awhile from the looks of her. Not wearing anything either. Big scar down her chest from an autopsy. Digger wouldn't be surprised if her organs were in little jars somewhere.

Next bag was a little different. Sores and bloody marks all over her. Must be the powers of one of the metas. Certain bodies couldn't handle it.

Just died from the shock of it.

He turned towards the two bags laying on the tables.

Third bag was another bloody man. Sores covering his whole face. Couldn't even make out the man's features. Wasn't Snart though. What little hair the man had left was blond.

That left the last bag.

Digger liked to think he'd seen enough death in his life to not be affected by it. Happens to everyone eventually. Not like there's anything special about being dead.

His hand hesitated slightly over the zipper.

Just open the bloody bag.

He unzipped it.

He didn't react externally. He'd seen too many dead bodies for something like that. Didn't really feel anything internally either. Wasn't sure he still had that in him. Could still feel pain like that anymore, not after all he'd done.

He just took a moment to look at the dead man in front of him. Making sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. That maybe this was just another clone like Lisa had mentioned. Another trick this Cadmus lot had cooked up.

Digger put a slow hand forward and touched the cold corpse in front of him.

"Sorry boss."

Not many people that Digger had ever called boss where it wasn't said as an insult.

Leonard Snart had been one of them.

Least he wasn't all covered in sores like the other two. Still looked like himself. That was something.

Just…not breathing. Body was cold. Didn't have the autopsy scars like the first chick. Must have been what those doctor bastards were coming back here to do.

So not dead too long.

Maybe only a few hours.

Digger rezipped the bag and slung it over his shoulder.

He carried the bag to the car and put it on the back seat. Probably should have put him in the trunk…

Nah. That didn't feel right. Leader of the Rogues don't end up in some trunk. He goes out with the proper respects.

He didn't check on the other two metas as he left. Door was open. If they couldn't figure out how to walk out, that was their problem.

Digger didn't figure coming back to Central with Snart's body was going to endear him to the others any more. They might even think he had something to do with it. Might kill him for it.

Smart thing to do, would be to bury Snart's body somewhere then just drop off the map. Never go back, never make contact with any of the others. He wasn't a meta, wasn't even associated with the Rogues any more. Cadmus wouldn't have a reason to come after him.

That would be the smart thing to do.

Digger headed back to the hotel with Snart's body on the back seat.

Couldn't say he'd ever been accused of doing the smart thing.

He called in some old favors, spent about the last of his money, and got him a private plane. Get them all back to Central by tomorrow evening.

Mardon was awake when Digger got back to the hotel. Still looked like shit. Hair all sideways, skin pale as it could be. Barely able to sit up on his own. The old man was hovering nearby.

"Stein said it was you, almost didn't believe it. Where's Cold?"

Digger had never been particularly good at breaking news easy. Didn't see the point in it. News was still going to be shit however he chose to say it. Best to just to get it over with.

"Snart's dead. Whatever powers they put in him, guess his body couldn't take. I got us a plane, leaving tonight. Take us all back to Central."

Mardon looked shocked...but resigned. Imagine he had to know that the odds Cold was still alive were pretty slim. He'd seen first hand what happened to non-metas in those prisons.

Probably a good thing his powers still weren't working. Man had a lot of rage in him on the best of days. Didn't deal with death too well that one.

Stein hadn't said a word, though he looked the saddest of them all. Old man didn't even know Snart.

Digger couldn't stand sitting around doing nothing. Just sitting in silence with all that hanging over them.

"Gonna go call and tell the others. Then we'll get out of here."

Mardon nodded. Digger saw Stein try to put a hand on Mark's shoulder. Mardon shrugged him off. Digger wonder how much of Central was going to be left once Mardon got back to himself.

Not to mention what all the other Rogues were capable of. There was going to be blood in the streets when all was said and done. Digger was sure of that.

He'd be spilling his share of it as well.

People skills were never Digger's strong suit. Even Cold had said that. Still, somebody had to let everyone know what was going on. No point in hiding it now.

Digger picked up the pay phone and dialed the cell he gave Roy.

Lisa picked up.

"Well?"

Digger hesitated a second too long. He knew he did. Knew she would know instantly that something wasn't right.

"Snart was dead by the time I got there. I got a plane. Gonna bring the body back with us. Should be in Central tomorrow night. I'll have 'em fly into the old Ferris base."

Silence went on a minute too long on the other side of the phone.

"Got it."

Then the phone hung up.

Digger rubbed a hand over his face.

Right then. Nothing left to do now but get home. Get it all laid out and see where the chips fell.

Silence reigned on the entire flight back. Snart's body laid in the back of the small private jet. Mardon had unzipped the bag when they first loaded up. Needing to see it was real for himself.

Thought the man might stare at Snart's body the whole ride back. Eventually he just zipped it up, took his seat, and proceeded to stare out the window the whole way home.

Stein, miraculously, didn't say a word. Probably thought the Rogues might kill him if he did. Mood Digger was in, that was a good call.

Didn't know how the Rogues would move forward from this. Lisa had led them before, knew she could handle that. But she was going to have other things on her mind for awhile. Might not be thinking straight on what to do next.

Wasn't like any of them would be. Digger had felt the itch to start killing people the second he had seen Snart's body. He thought it might go away after a few hours. But it hadn't. It was still there. He took out a boomerang and started sharpening it. Wanted it to be ready when Lisa gave the order.

Digger didn't care who they had to kill. Just as long as he got to kill as many as he needed until the itch went away.

Until he stopped feeling this...whatever this feeling was.

He was going to kill every single one of these bastards if that's what it took.

Rules be damned.


	5. Chapter 5

This was this small, stupid part of Roy that wanted to call Digger a liar. To say that there was no way that Cold could be dead.

Leonard Snart doesn't die.

He can't.

It was a ridiculous thing to think, he knew. Snart was human like everyone else, and in their line of work, life expectancy was never that high to begin with. Sooner or later, Leonard Snart would have died.

Just…

Not like this.

Not halfway around the world. Not alone in some prison basement before the Rogues could rush in for the save.

Lisa had been staring at the cell phone in silence for over a minute. Roy didn't know what he expected her to do.

Cry.

Scream.

Just start killing every single person around her.

Instead she stood up straight, turned quickly, and looked Roy in the eye.

"Shawna is being held in a facility in Canada right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. You and I will head there and get her."

Her voice was so calm. Roy wasn't certain his own voice held that same quality.

"Should we tell the Flash? He could go and get her quicker than we would be able to."

Lisa hesitated a moment, her eyes flashing dangerously at the mention of the scarlet superhero.

"No. He's too focused on getting to everyone else. We need to get to Shawna now."

She turned abruptly and stalked out of the room.

Roy turned to Mick. Mick wasn't really looking at anything. Just staring off into the distance. Eventually he turned and started of follow after Lisa.

"You heard her."

Roy didn't know what else to do so he followed after them. He went through the motions of making sure he had a gun, of looking over the plans to the facility they were going to go to. They had been planning on making this trip in the next few hours anyway. Had all the information the clone had been able to give them about the facility. They were supposed to drive up tonight, then stake the place out for a few hours.

He wasn't even really sure how he and Lisa made it to Canada. Just that one moment they were driving in the car and the next they were pulling up outside what looked like an abandoned auto repair shop. They must have crossed the border at some point. Had he remembered to bring his passport? Did you need a passport to get into Canada these days? He had been to Quebec a few times when he was younger and he didn't remember needing one then.

Which wasn't really important. Clearly they had made it without any issues. They must have stopped for food and gas at one point as well. He has a vague recollection of eating a questionable tuna sandwich.

He doubted Lisa had paid too much attention to the posted speed limit signs. Roy supposed he should feel exhausted. The news of the day, the long drive, should have drained him. Instead, he was practically jumping out of his skin. Like he had drank a dozen cups of coffee. He wondered if this is how Axel felt all the time. Bursting with energy, looking for any possible outlet.

The auto shop had been the cover for the military base. It looked like an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. There were abandoned cars strewn about the lawn. A half knocked down wire fence around the perimeter. Roy half expected a junk yard dog to come running out to greet them.

The smart play would be to wait, like they did with the other site. See if there was anyone inside. See if the place was being monitored. That had been the original plan.

Lisa stepped out of the car after putting it in park and walked directly towards the front entrance.

Roy followed after her without a word.

The entrance was simple, it looked like nothing more than a door to a repair shop. But there were those extra sensors again. The ones that would alert anyone inside that they were here. Lisa just barreled right through them. She wanted the people inside to know the Rogues were coming. She wanted an excuse to fight.

To just wrap her hands around anything with a pulse and squeeze until there was blood under her perfectly manicured nails.

Roy glared up at the security camera in the corner, he wasn't in the mood for stealth either.

There was a secret hatch under the floor boards, hidden only by an old rug that was easily pulled away. Roy felt like he should make a comment on the cliché nature of this particular hideout. How it felt like the beginning of a horror movie, or one of those video games he had seen Axel playing.

Something to lighten the oppressive mood that was settling in. Lisa pointed a flashlight down the hole, then started down.

He didn't say anything.

The ladder lead into a tunnel. There was no one waiting for them. No sounds of anyone rushing to stop them. Lisa still pulled out her gun.

They walked forward, the strange winding hallway seemed to go on forever. Roy was aware that the floor was on an incline, that every step they took was taking them further underground. The feeling of being in a horror movie was growing stronger by the minute. Roy was certain that they were going to find something truly terrible down here.

Some vicious monster that could rip a man to shreds.

Suddenly the hallway split in two.

Lisa didn't hesitate. She nodded her head towards the right, then split off and headed towards the left. Roy didn't comment on the horror cliché of splitting up. Lisa was in charge, and she said they needed to split up. To cover more ground. To get to Shawna as quickly as possible.

Before something could happen to her like…

Roy walked slowly. He pulled his gun and pointed it in front of him. He felt odd, carrying it. But Lisa had insisted. Not willing to risk that the guards might have anti-meta devices, or that his powers wouldn't work inside the facility.

Anyone who wasn't Shawna, Roy was supposed to shoot.

Kill.

Roy really didn't have a problem with that. Not after what these Cadmus people had done to the Rogues.

Roy was ignoring anything he was feeling about Snart's death. They had a job to finish. When everyone was back together, when Digger and Mardon were back in the US, and Shawna was safe, then Roy would think about what losing Snart meant.

What it was going to do to them. How in the hell they were supposed to keep going.

Lisa was a good leader. Strong. She could keep them together.

What would happen after they killed all of these Cadmus people he wondered? The Flash would most likely up his game in catching them once they started leaving bodies everywhere. Because he was certain that was what Lisa intended to do. Just kill anyone who had anything to do with this.

It was a plan Roy might have disagreed with at one point.

Roy thought he heard a noise. A small sound like a mouse caught in a trap. The air seemed to be thicker here. It felt like it was sticking to his skin. Then a sudden surge of warmth hit him. The air felt damp, and it brought with it a stench of something that had long since begun to rot. And there was this…strange mist in the hallways.

The halls were no longer pristine and white. But covered in these dark shades, mottled all over the walls. He took a slow step towards the wall. It was covered completely in this…odd fungus. It spread out in front of him. The walls, the floor, the ceiling. It was everywhere. The farther in he walked, the thicker it became. It covered the floor now, like a thick wet carpet. Small mushroom-like protrusions popped through the uniformity at random intervals.

Roy paused to step over what he was certain was a body, completely covered in the fungus. That small noise from earlier was coming from the covered lump. He bent down slowly beside it. There was a man's finger barely poking out of the plant material.

It wasn't Shawna.

So he kept moving.

There was another body stuck to the wall. It appeared to be one of the guards, the riot gear completely useless. Roy didn't check to see if the man was still alive. If he was, he wouldn't be for long, the fungus was starting to cover the man's mouth.

He finally came to a doorway. He tried not to touch the fungus with his bare hands, using his sleeve to open the door. He didn't know how the meta who did this spread their powers, but Roy wasn't going to take any chances.

He expected the next hallway to be covered in the same way. But it wasn't. It looked just as clean and institutional as the beginning of the complex had been. And that damp, foul smelling air was gone as well.

There was one door on either side of the hallway. Jefferson had explained how their prison had been laid out. The metas and non-metas kept together, no other people but the four of them. It would appear that this place wasn't set up the same way. They must have isolated the metas from the others here. He glanced back towards the plants growing behind him. Clearly their precautions hadn't worked.

Lisa must have headed towards where they were keeping the non-metas. No doubt she would have come to her destination by now as well.

He randomly picked the door on the right and opened it.

The room was pitch black. He removed his shades and put them in his jacket pocket, trying to see clearly. The light from the hallway was illuminating parts of the room, but not very much. He could barely see into the corners.

He took a step into the blackened room and…

Shawna.

She was laying on the ground, her back to him. He couldn't tell if she was breathing.

He sprinted to her, hitting his knees hard on the ground when he kneeled down to her. He reached out, putting his fingers on her neck.

Her skin was so cold.

There were no blankets, no mattress in the room. There was nothing.

They had just tossed her into this empty, dark room.

Cold and alone.

He pulled her up into his arms and cradled her head against his chest. He awkwardly pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her.

"Shawna, can you hear me?"

He kept a hand on her neck. The small blip of her heartbeat keeping him from losing control. Keeping him focused on her.

He heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Too heavy to be Lisa. Someone else was coming.

Someone who had done this to Shawna.

The first time Roy had used his powers it had felt like his eyes were on fire. The rage had coursed through him, burning everything in its path.

The footsteps were just behind him now. He heard the door creak open as they came closer.

"Move away from the subject."

Subject.

The word rattled something inside of Roy.

That piece of shit called Shawna a subject.

Like she was just an experiment they would toss away when they were done.

It felt like someone had their hands inside his chest. Gripping at his heart, squeezing the life out of him.

Roy couldn't truly explain what happened to his vision, or why it occurred. Everything in the room was tinted red. It seeped into everything that he could see. Shawna's hair, his own hands around her, the cracks in the walls. The darkened shadows even seemed to pulse with this new shade.

Roy turned his head sharply towards the two men standing in the doorway. Both men were wearing protective eye wear attached to their riot helmets.

It didn't matter. It wouldn't help them.

This wasn't like the first time he had used his powers. This wasn't a fire burning through him.

This was another thing all together. Like lava forcing its way out of a volcano. A force of nature, destroying everything in its path.

Unstoppable.

The two men turned on each other.

Roy knew what his powers did to people. Knew how it unlocked the emotions that were already hidden inside them.

This wasn't anger. Or rage.

This was something more primal than that.

The two men weren't just trying to kill each other, they were ripping each other apart. Biting and clawing and growling. They looked like two animals caught in a feeding frenzy.

Shawna started to move in his arms.

He pulled his attention away from the two red figures fighting behind him and looked down at her.

"Shawna. It's alright. It's Roy. We found you. We found you."

"…roy….hurts…" Her voice was so weak. She buried her head into his shirt. She had been locked in the darkness too long, the light from the hallway was hurting her. Roy ripped off a part of his sleeve and tied it around her eyes.

She made a small sobbing sound.

His eyes burned again. There was a sound behind him. Something like bones breaking and blood pouring onto the ground.

Roy adjusted Shawna so that she was secure in his arms, then he stood up. He kept his voice as calm as possible.

"It's alright. I've got you. We're going home now."

Shawna just clutched Roy's shirt in her fingers, barely nodding her head.

Roy stepped over the mass of blood and what used to be two human bodies in the hallway. He didn't give them another thought.

He headed for the car, all the while muttering to Shawna. Repeating over and over again that she was safe, that the Rogues had found her.

That he was there.

He opened the door to the car and laid her down gently on the back seat. He stood up and heard the door to the repair shop swing open. He saw Lisa walk towards the car out of the corner of his eye.

She stood behind his shoulder.

"She ok?"

"She's in pain."

"Mardon said that was normal after…whatever the hell they did to them."

Roy clenched his jaw. His vision began to tint slightly red again.

Lisa suddenly shouldered past him, reaching into the car and pulling his shades out of his jacket pocket. She ran a careful hand over Shawna's face before moving back. Checking for herself that the woman was still alive.

She handed the shades to him. He finally tore his eyes away from Shawna. Lisa was staring at the ground. She didn't look up, deliberately looking anywhere but at him.

"Your eyes are still red."

He took the shades from her and put them on. Not entirely sure they would work right now.

"I'll drive." She walked to the front and slid in to the drivers side.

Roy sat in the passenger side.

The room had been pitch black. Roy knew that if he had been caught, he would have ended up in a room exactly like that. No way to use his powers. No way to escape. Waiting every day for one of the others to come find him.

How suffocating that must have been for Shawna. How alone she must have felt. He had to make a conscious effort to unclench his fists.

"Anyone else alive in there?"

Roy thought about the other door in the hallway. About the meta that had caused that strange fungus choking the life out of the guards.

"Didn't check."

Lisa put the car in drive and they pulled away. Roy couldn't find it in him to care who was still in that other room.

Let the Flash come find them if he cares about it so much.

They didn't talk much on the way back to the safe house. The occasional mention of gas or food. Shawna hadn't so much as stirred the entire trip home. They had stopped once at a Walmart, just to buy Shawna a blanket. Roy had been worried her skin would still be freezing when he touched her again. But she was beginning to warm up.

He had noticed the blood on Lisa's shoes when they had stopped. He didn't ask her about it.

He carried Shawna into the safe house when they finally made it back. Taking extra care to lay her gently on the bed. He removed the makeshift bandage from her eyes. Keeping the room dark, but with just enough light so she would know where she was.

"…roy…"

She was blearily trying to open her eyes. The act causing her some pain. She clutched at his arm. He put his hands on hers.

"You're at a safe house in Central." He knelt down by the side of the bed, putting a hand on her face. "We found you."

She reached her hand towards him. Her hand grazing his face.

"….knew you would."

He smiled at her. Her eyes were already starting to close again.

"Get some sleep."

"Everybody else ok?"

Roy didn't say anything. Just let her fall asleep. He'd tell her later. After she had some time to rest.

He walked out of the room and saw Mick standing by the door.

"Plane's going to be here in a few hours."

Roy nodded. They had to go to Ferris. Had to…pick up Snart's body.

"Ok."

"Tell her before we leave."

Roy nodded. He would tell her about Snart. She had just looked so peaceful just now. He didn't want to cause her any stress. Not when she just got somewhere safe.

"I will."

Mick gave him an odd look, then headed down the hallway.

Roy got a few hours of sleep. Then Axel was banging on his door. Telling him they had to go.

Roy remembered the last time he had been at the Ferris base. It was the first time he had really met any of the other Rogues. Sure, they had seen each other through the glass of their cells, even spoken to Mardon and Shawna once or twice when Cisco was feeling charitable and would let them interact.

But this was where it had really all begun for them. Whether any of them had realized it at the time or not.

The first time they had worked together. The first time they had been a part of one of Snart's plans.

Roy didn't know what it meant that they were all back here again.

The plane touched down. They were all waiting by the cars. Even Shawna, who had refused to be left behind at the safe house. She was going to be there. Even if she was asleep in the back seat. Her head was leaning against the glass. Roy couldn't tell if she was awake or not, but he could see her breath against the glass.

The door to the plane opened and an old man got out.

Stein, Digger had said. The professor seemed to understand that he wasn't a part of this particular ceremony and walked past them with a brief nod.

Roy turned to see a car pull up behind them. He could see Cisco and Hartley in the front seat. Roy wondered who had told them. Maybe Axel had let Hartley know what was happening. Where they would be.

They got out of the car. So did the Flash and Dr. Snow. Stein walked quickly to Dr. Snow.

Roy wanted to tell them to leave. This wasn't for them. But he kept his mouth shut. If Lisa didn't say anything about it. Roy wasn't going to.

Roy barely moved as Digger and Mardon came out of the plane, carrying a body bag between them.

They put it slowly on the ground.

For a minute no one moved.

Then Lisa started to walk forward. Mick a few steps behind her.

She bent down and unzipped the bag.

From where he was standing, Roy could see it was Snart. Could see the man wasn't breathing, wasn't moving. Could see how pale his skin was.

Up until this exact moment, he had held out some insane hope. Some sliver of a chance that Digger had gotten it wrong. It wasn't Snart. It was a clone or meta who could look like Snart. But it couldn't be him.

Then Lisa touched her brother's cheek.

"Lenny."

It was him.

Leonard Snart was dead.

It felt like a physical punch to the chest. He was a little surprised he didn't have to take a step back. Hartley had moved forward and was standing beside him. The rest of the Flash team was farther back. Keeping their distance at least. Hartley looked tired. Roy had to assume they all looked that bad. Digger stepped away from the body, giving Lisa some space. He came over and stood next to them.

He gave Hartley a nod.

Hartley didn't seem to notice. His eyes fixed on the body on the ground.

No one could believe it.

Lisa placed a kiss on her brother's forehead. Then stood up. She took a step back as Mick bent down and pick up Snart's body.

Mick carried him back towards the van. Lisa followed them with her eyes, her feet still rooted to the spot. Then her gaze turned towards where Roy, Digger, and Hartley were standing.

"This is all your fault."

Digger put his hands up in the air.

"Love…"

Lisa pulled out her gun and fired it in one fluid motion.

The Flash was able to run forward in time. In time to stop Lisa from killing a Rogue. Her aim had been deadly in its accuracy.

The stream of gold firing directly where Hartley had been standing not a second before.

Roy stood in shock. Which was nothing compared to how Hartley must have felt. Hartley opened and closed his mouth several times. There was confusion written in with the sorrow on his face.

"Lisa, I don't…"

"If you had come back to the safe house we would have been able to find the location sooner. We would have found my brother sooner."

Even Digger looked a little shocked by all this, for once the mercenary kept his mouth shut.

Lisa pointed her gun at Hartley again.

The Flash stepped forward.

"Lisa, I know you're in pain but blaming Hartley isn't…"

"Oh no? Then who should I blame Flash? You? You can speed all over the world but when we told you where my brother was being held you didn't go get him. You wanted to save people closer. People who were more deserving of being saved."

"That isn't…"

"He was just a criminal. His life wasn't worth as much to you as one of your little friends. I blame Hartley for not coming back to the Rogues when he should have. He could have helped us. He was one of us, and he didn't come when we needed him the most. We wasted time looking for him that could have been spent looking for Len. But I also blame you. So whatever deal you had with my brother is over. We are going to do what we have to do to make these people pay. And if you get in our way, we will kill you too."

"You don't want to…"

"I want revenge, Flash. And I am sure as hell going to get it."

The silence was thick between the two groups.

Roy couldn't help but notice the way that Hartley had stayed by Team Flash.

It was irrational to blame Hartley for what happened. To Cold, to Mardon, to Shawna…

But there was this monster inside of Roy. This still bubbling feeling of anger. Telling him that Hartley had abandoned the Rogues. He knew about the safe house in Kansas City and he had never once attempted to contact them.

Maybe Snart would still be alive.

Roy pushed the rage down. Tried to make it quiet. But with the image of Cold's body still in his mind, with the feeling of Shawna's freezing skin against his fingers…it was difficult.

He just needed to be able to breathe for a moment. They all needed to take a step back. Not let their emotions destroy….

Mick put a hand on Lisa's still outstretched arm.

Her aim hadn't waivered once.

"We gotta bury him first."

Lisa's eyes still burned with rage. But she lowered the weapon. Her voice was low and cold.

"Don't ever come near the Rogues again Rathaway. You've clearly chosen your side. Next time, the Flash won't be able to save you."

Her voice was hard. Cruel.

She sounded just like her brother.

She turned and walked away.

None of them really knew what to say, Mardon and Axel just followed after the retreating Lisa and Mick.

Hartley looked devastated. Cisco had an arm around him. Keeping the genius standing. Roy wanted to say something comforting. Wanted to tell Hartley it wasn't his fault, but he was afraid if he opened his mouth now he would say something he would regret.

Or something he wouldn't.

Digger turned towards Hartley.

"Sorry mate. I'm sure it's just…you know. Hell, they let me back. So…"

Digger trailed off then stalked away.

Hartley wasn't looking at any of them, just staring at the ground. No doubt the boy was going through everything he had done. Wondering if he could have saved Snart if he had just rejoined the Rogues.

Roy pushed his anger farther down. They needed to stay calm. They needed to stay together.

Lisa was just angry and looking for anyone to blame. Roy was sure that she would calm down within a few weeks. Hartley just needed to give her some time. Then everything would be alright.

Roy got in the car with Axel and Shawna. Axel had been unusually silent the entire time. Roy had almost forgotten the boy was even there with them. He wasn't even wearing his large jacket. Just a simple hooded sweatshirt.

Shawna was staring blearily out the window as Roy slid into the back seat with her. She leaned against him. He put a tentative arm around her.

"Why isn't Piper getting in the car?"

Her eyes were already closing. He ran his hand over her head, brushing lightly at her hair.

"…because it's all shit."

She didn't respond, already asleep.

Roy tried to focus on listening to her breathe. To feeling her still alive against him.

She was alive. All of the Rogues were back where they belonged.

But everything else was shit.

 

* * *

 

She supposed she should be crying.

That was what you were supposed to do. Get it out. Don't let it fester.

She remembered all the doctors and social workers over the years. The lawyers. Telling her it was alright to cry. When her bones were broken, or her bruises fresh. It was ok to cry. She didn't have to hold it in.

But that had always been in direct conflict with what her father had taught her.

This might be the only time in her life she was ever thankful for her father's lessons. He had beaten the ability to feel anything like sadness out of her all those years ago. Crying only got you more pain.

So she didn't cry.

She stayed up looking over every detail of blue prints and banking statements for buildings that had been closed for ten years.

They were going to find these people. And she wasn't going to waste anytime.

They had put Lenny's body in a room down the hall. Until tomorrow.

No one had really said anything about it. Just laid him down on the bed. Then they had all wandered back to their own rooms. The last few weeks taking their toll on everyone. They had all been injured, all suffered more than most people would be able to survive.

But they had survived.

They would continue to survive. Because that's what the Rogues did.

They didn't give up when they were beaten down. They didn't just lie there and let the world spit them out and toss them away. They fought. They did whatever they had to do to survive.

They were going to need a plan.

She was going to have to be the one to make the plans now. The one to keep the others on track. Keep them focused on the mission.

Lenny had taught her everything she knew about how to keep going. How to ignore the pain and focus on the job.

So that's what she was doing. Focusing on the job. Not letting anything that resembled doubt or regret even begin to enter her mind. She didn't have time for it. She had a job to do. She had to kill every member of Cadmus. Any person who got in their way would meet a similar fate.

The Flash especially.

If he tried to interfere, well, she had already told him what would happen.

They could set up a fake lab site. Leak the information to Cisco. Tell him that there were more people trapped. Fill it with anti-meta devices. The Flash wouldn't know it was a trap until it was too late.

Or if that didn't work, she could always do it the old fashioned way. Find out who he was under that mask. Take his family members hostage.

Kill them in front of him.

Make sure he felt exactly what she felt.

She stood up, the numbers and designs on the page were starting to bleed together. She rubbed her eyes. The exhaustion was starting to get to her.

She thought about how many times she had had to pull Lenny away from his plans. How he would go days without eating or sleeping if someone wasn't watching out for him.

She needed to be sharp. Needed to be ready. And she couldn't do that if she was so tired she couldn't even see straight.

She looked down at the plans one last time. They would still be there in the morning. She would still feel this same pull then.

"You need to be more careful sis."

"I was tired Lenny. I didn't see…"

"What's rule number six?"

She had huffed, she wasn't a child anymore. She didn't need her big brother to get on her.

"Always get a good night sleep before a job. You're one to talk though. You never sleep."

"In the weeks leading up to a job no. But the night before, I always do. You have to be sharp. You can't let anything go wrong and that includes your own mind. Everything has to be…"

"In perfect working order. Yes Lenny, you've only been telling me this since I was five."

"You'd think you would have listened by now."

"Jerk."

"Trainwreck."

She shook off the memory. Lenny had been right then. She hadn't been as focused on the job as she should have been. Had stayed out the night before partying with some guys she had met. She had gotten sloppy and it had almost cost her. She had hated how Len had swooped in for the rescue after she got caught. Posing as a lawyer there to post her bail. They had skipped town that night, no money or jewels to show for all her weeks of planning. She hadn't been back to Vermont since.

She couldn't afford to make those same mistakes anymore. It wasn't just about the job now.

It was about protecting her family.

She walked back to her room and fell down onto the bed. She laid on top of the covers, not bothering to take off her jacket or shoes. She didn't really remember the last time she had changed her outfit now that she thought about it. She could take a shower in the morning. She didn't have the energy to get out of bed now.

Everyone else was bound to be asleep. Except for Mick. He was out collecting firewood somewhere. Had wandered out of the house not long after they had returned. Disappearing into the woods. She had seen him through the window earlier, stacking the sticks and wood.

Building a large funeral pyre.

Len would like that. Would like that Mick got to do that for him.

She didn't know how long she laid there. She was exhausted. She needed to sleep. But apparently her body had decided she didn't need it. She stared at the wall, her eyes would occasionally flick to the clock beside her bed. Several hours passed in a strange haze.

She kept telling herself to fall asleep, kept closing her eyes. Only for them to open a few minutes later almost against her will. She needed a clear head, she needed to be ready for whatever came next.

She was on her own now. Couldn't depend on her big brother to swoop in if she screwed up again.

She heard the door to her room open. She didn't bother to turn. She could smell the smoke and gasoline from here.

Mick walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. He didn't make any effort to speak to her, or to lay down. Just sat there silently. She was about to ask him what he was doing, when it occurred to her.

She remembered suddenly the last time that Mick had done this.

She had barely been a teenager. Her father and Len had been arrested on a job. Some stupid bank thing that Len could have done in his sleep. But Lewis had insisted on being in charge. Had threatened Lisa if Len didn't go along with the plan exactly.

So of course it went wrong. Of course they both got arrested. Lisa had known about the job. But she hadn't known the exact date. Hadn't known they had left, until she got home from school and no one was there. If Len knew he wouldn't be there, he would leave a note, or some food out for her. This time, there was nothing.

She had immediately snuck into her father's bedroom and turned on the police scanner. She heard everything they were saying. About the robbery. About the botched escape. Her heart had stopped in her chest when they announced that one of the thieves had be been shot. That the other three were in custody.

It was a few hours before she found out that Len wasn't the one who had been injured. Just some nameless driver that had gotten stupid and pulled a gun on a cop.

She was familiar with what would happen next. A social worker always showed up when her father got in trouble. But usually Len was there. He would say he was her legal guardian. Talk the social worker into leaving without so much as a single doubt that Len would be an excellent provider for her until her father got home.

So she was expecting the knock at the door.

She wasn't expecting it to be Mick standing there. They had stood there for a moment in silence. Each sizing the other up. Each trying to determine exactly what he was doing there. Eventually he had muttered something about paying off the social services people. Telling them he was a distant relative and would keep an eye on her.

She had only met Mick once or twice at that point. Usually just in passing, or seeing him through a window talking to Len. But Len had said he trusted Mick.

Had said she could trust Mick.

So she had let him into the house.

It had been strange that first few days. Mick being there in the morning when she got up, and there when she got home from school. It was clear he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to be doing. Most of the time just trying to stay out of her way. Just making sure there was always take out for her to eat. He never really said too much to her. And she hadn't really been in the mood for conversations.

She was certain most of their conversations had been exactly the same.

"Any news on Lenny?"

"No."

She was desperate for news. Desperate for any word on when her brother would be released. But it wasn't like they could walk down to the police station and ask what was going on. Lenny would have a plan. He would have a way out, and she didn't want to risk anything by just showing up unannounced. If Lenny wanted her to come to the police station, he would let her know.

Len was too good to get caught like this. He always had a back up plan. Always had a way out.

It was a week or so after the arrest when she finally got the news. They were going to charge Len with everything. They said he was the mastermind. He was the one who set everything up, the one who was responsible for his crew member's death.

They were going to try him and push for the maximum sentence.

Ten to fifteen years if the prosecutor had his way.

They were going to be doing depositions for the next few days. Getting all the details right, finding every piece of evidence they could to throw the book at her brother. Apparently all the charges against Len were being corroborated by a witness.

Lewis.

Lewis was pinning the whole thing on Len. Said that he had followed his son to the job site, and tried to stop him from committing the crime. He didn't want his son to make the same mistakes he had.

The bastard was actually playing the "Concerned Father" card. And the idiots at the DA's office was eating it up. They believed everything he said. Several of Lewis' old corrupt cop buddies still had connections. Could make it look like Lewis had turned his life around. Had done it all for his sweet little daughter. Who was no doubt terrified that he had been gone so long.

That she needed him.

They were going to let Lewis walk in exchange for his testimony against Len. Len was going to be locked away for years and Lewis…Lewis could be home any minute. She hadn't really known how the justice system worked at that point. Hadn't known it was unlikely that Lewis would be released that day.

It was all she could think about at the time. That he was going to walk through the door, grab a beer, and tell her to forget all about her brother.

That he was as good as dead.

Lisa had numbly eaten the pizza that Mick had ordered. She doubted she had said anything since she found out earlier in the day. She was lost in the constant stream of fear. She managed to make it through several hours of homework before she went to bed.

As soon as she laid down, as soon as she was truly alone with her thoughts, she had started crying.

Len was going to be stuck in prison. And Lewis was going to be free. Lewis could walk through that door any second. Angry that he was down his favorite punching bag. Angry that the job had gone south, that he didn't have the money he needed. That Len wouldn't be able to earn him any money while he was in prison. He would turn all his attention to her.

She was never able to learn things as quickly as Lenny did. Never able to figure out the locks or the patterns in the time her dad wanted her to. Lewis was always so angry with her. She couldn't imagine how it would be now, without Len there to protect her.

She didn't know how long she had been crying before the door to her room opened. She had tried to stop. Tried to at least be silent. Didn't want Lenny's friend to think she was some weak little girl. That she couldn't take care of herself.

Mick hadn't said anything. Just sat down on the edge of the bed. He didn't make any moves to comfort her, or tell her it was going to be ok.

He just sat in silence.

She finally worked up the courage to look at his face. Certain he would be glaring down at her. Certain he would be annoyed that he had made some deal with Len to watch over such a pathetic little girl.

He hadn't even been looking at her. He had been staring straight at the door.

Even as young as she was, she had recognized that look. Lenny would get that same look when he was expecting their father to come home in a bad mood.

Something in her chest had loosened at the sight of it.

Mick was planning on sitting there the entire night, in case Lewis came home. He was going to be between her and whatever came next.

She hadn't even known Mick at the time. But she had been certain he wouldn't let Lewis touch her. Len had said she could trust him….

She had fallen asleep not too long after that.

When she woke up in the morning. He had still been sitting there. She wondered if he had slept at all that night. If he had even considered leaving once she fell asleep.

She never got a chance to ask him. And hour later Len had just appeared in the kitchen.

She had completely disregarded Mick in an effort to wrap her arms around her big brother.

"They said you were…"

"Easy there sis, you know I always have a plan. I had to go along with Lewis' testimony. Takes time to pay off the right people. Get certain evidence planted, other pieces lost. By the time they were reviewing the case, they realized Lewis had been lying to them."

Len had explained the entire thing to her over breakfast. How the job went south. How he knew that Lewis would try to pin it on him. So he had reached out to some contacts. Had them planting some evidence while they were locked up. He had paid off a few lawyers and police officers. Making sure none of the money could be traced back to him. Then he had made sure that those payments were discovered. Once the judge had learned that the case was already compromised, that there would be a scandal if they continued now, they had to let him go.

By the time they would bring him back in for more questioning, Len would have everything in place to make sure Lewis was the one who took the fall.

It was a complete reversal of how she had thought everything would go. Len was home, and Lewis was going to be locked up for a long time.

She didn't have to be afraid that her father would come for her. Didn't have to worry that she was failing the lessons any more.

She doesn't remember if Mick stayed for breakfast or if he had just disappeared. All she remembered was how happy she was that Len was back. Nothing else had mattered then.

She doesn't think she ever thanked Mick for what he did.

Hell, it was months before she saw Mick again. And he never mentioned it. She hadn't brought it up because she was a stupid teenager who didn't realize what something like that had really meant.

By the time she had, it was years later. And she assumed Mick had forgotten all about it.

Mick had that same look in his eyes as he had that night. Staring steadfastly at the door. Willing to put himself between her and anything the world might throw at them.

Sentimental idiot.

She sat up and moved over until she was sitting on the edge of the bed beside him. She wasn't some little girl anymore. If some monster was going to come crashing through the door, she was going to face it.

She wrapped an arm around his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You don't have to do this Mick."

Mick just grunted.

They sat like that for awhile. Neither mentioning anything about the familiarity of it all. Neither mentioning the reason they both felt this same dull ache in their chests.

Eventually the sun started to rise. She supposed she should take that shower now. Maybe get a little sleep before the others woke up.

She shifted and Mick took that as his cue to stand up. He turned and looked at her. His gaze would have been unreadable if she hadn't known him so well. She smiled softly at him.

"Did you really sit like this the entire night? My back is killing me."

"Was young then."

"Not anymore."

She smirked at Mick and he frowned at her. It was a joke she had been saying since she met him. How old he was compared to her. She had a brief image of an 80 year old Mick Rory, sitting on the edge of her bed. Still trying to put himself between her and the world. She could imagine him with one of those silver walkers with the tennis balls on the bottom. She was sure that he would find a way to incorporate flame throwers on to the thing.

She doubted Mick had really planned on living this long. With the types of lives they lead. With all the issues he had had in his life, from the cops and his family. Hell she knew Lenny had never planned on….

She doesn't really know how she ends up crying into Mick's shirt. Just that his arms are suddenly wrapped around her and she can't stop. There isn't going to be a plan this time. Len doesn't have some last minute save up his sleeve.

Because he's dead.

Dead because she couldn't get to him in time. Because she wasn't smart enough to see the pattern like Len would have. Because the Flash wouldn't help them, when they had actually needed him. Because Hartley betrayed them. Because…

She loses the ability to form coherent thoughts. It's all just a mix of images and words. Things she never said. But assumed her brother just knew.

Eventually she stops. Not because she feels as if she's done crying, but simply because her body can't do it anymore. She can't cry forever, no matter if she wants to.

Mick's still holding her against his chest.

She wants to pull away. Wants to be strong. Doesn't want to be one of those women that just fall apart. Can't control their emotions.

Lenny taught her better than this.

She finally pulls away. Mick rubs a hand over her face, brushing her tears away.

He hadn't judged her then, and she knows he won't judge her now. She stands up, distancing herself from that weak moment.

"I'm going to take a shower, we have a lot of planning to do if we are going to track all these Cadmus people down. And I can't do it smelling like yesterday's garbage."

Mick can see through her mask just as well as Lenny could. But he just stands up and starts to walk out of the room. She's grateful for a moment. Grateful that he would never call her on it.

She grips his wrist as he walks past her. Allowing that scared little girl, one more moment's weakness.

"It's just you and me now Mick. We have to keep it together."

Mick tenses for a second, then relaxes. He doesn't say anything, but she knows him well enough to know he understood her meaning.

Tonight, he was able to keep the dark from getting to her. From letting the darkness seep in and steal away her strength. Steal away all the things her brother had shown her how to be.

Tomorrow, she would make sure the flames in his head didn't win. Would make sure all the ways that Lenny had taught him to stay in control weren't lost to the anger and the pain.

They would do it for each other, until they were sure the dark wasn't going to sneak in. Wasn't going to catch them unaware.

Lenny wouldn't have wanted that for either of them. Would have wanted them to watch out for each other.

Would have wanted them to watch out for all of the Rogues.

After they had Lenny's funeral, they were going to hunt down every single member of this Cadmus group. Lisa wouldn't stop until they were all dead.

Until she was certain that everyone understood the consequences of screwing with her family.


	6. Chapter 6

Roy was six years old the first time he ever attended a funeral. His grandfather had a stroke and his mother had forced him into a suit. He didn't remember much about it. Except that there was a room off to the side away from the casket. A designated family room, where he spent most of his time drawing in the corner.

They had lemonade and cookies in that room.

He remembered that his parents were there. A distant uncle or two. A couple of his grandfather's friends. In total, less than 20 people had come.

He remembered an old woman saying how sad it was. That so few people showed up, considering how good of a man his grandfather had been. He didn't know anything about that.

As little as he remembers about the funeral, he remembers his grandfather even less.

He has a vague impression of man with glasses. A man who called him Sport and was always smiling. Which isn't much to go on. Hard to tell if a man was truly good based on as little as that.

Roy had slept fitfully last night. Waking up at every little sound. Waiting for someone to come busting through the door and break the uneasy silence that hung over the house. Surely their enemies were just waiting to find them unaware. Waiting to break the Rogues apart again.

At one point Roy had gotten up and walked over to Shawna's room. Double checking that she was still in there. It was irrational of course. If someone was going to bust in and kidnap them, they wouldn't do it quietly. It wouldn't be the sound of a floorboard creaking, it would be the door being broken down. There was no reason for him to think that anything was wrong. Shawna was sleeping peacefully.

He went and checked on Mardon next.

And had almost had a minor panic attack when the man wasn't in his room.

Thankfully he glanced out the window and saw Mardon sitting on an old bench out in the yard. He managed to calm himself down, not wanting to wake any of the others with his ridiculous fears. Everyone needed the rest.

The farmhouse was still their base of operations for now. They would move back into Central City proper, once they figured out a plan of attack.

Once they figured out what the hell they were going to do now.

Roy hadn't thought too much about it when they had pulled back into the driveway after returning from Ferris. He had almost completely forgotten about the fact that the clone was still tied up in the barn.

Lisa clearly hadn't.

She had hopped out of the car, and walked purposely towards the barn. Pulling her gun as she entered the wooden doors. None of the others made any move to stop her, they didn't see a point. The clone had given them all the information he had, no reason to keep it around.

A few seconds passed, and Roy still hadn't heard the telltale sound of her gun firing. The Rogues all stood quietly by the cars, waiting for their leader to reappear.

Her voice was calm, but there was anger in every move she made.

"He's not there. The Flash must have taken him."

The Flash would have known they would kill the clone the second they got back. Must have taken him somewhere they would never be able to find him. It didn't really matter at the moment. Maybe one day they would track him down and kill him for his part in all this, but he was hardly at the top of their list.

No one had said a word as they walked back into the farmhouse. Roy had his arm wrapped around Shawna, helping her walk. Mardon was staggering slightly but seemed determined to continue moving on his own. Though Roy saw the way Digger was walking only a few steps behind. Axel was still being far too quiet. He was walking at the back, behind all the others.

Mick carried Snart's body into one of the rooms. Laying him gently on the bed.

For a moment, Roy could almost pretend the man was just sleeping.

They had all separated after that. Shawna was asleep almost the second she laid back down. Mardon hadn't lasted much longer.

The man shouldn't be outside.

Roy walked outside and sat down on the bench beside him.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. It was strange to think that it had been months since Roy had seen Mardon. Since he had decided to leave Central for a little while. Just to get away. To see the world, spend some time painting without any distractions.

He had always planned to come back of course.

Always assumed the Rogues would be there when he did.

There were a few clouds overhead.

"Think it will rain?"

Roy knew it annoyed Mardon when people talked about the weather with him. As though it was the only interest he had.

Mark looked up.

"Maybe. Nothing I can do about it."

Mark's hands were shaking slightly.

"You should..."

"I know. God you're as bad as Stein was. I know I need to rest."

Roy didn't respond to Mark's angry outburst. Anger was always Mark's default. Roy liked to think he was calmer than most of the other Rogues. That he could keep himself in check if he had to.

He thought about the men in the tunnels. Ripping each other to shreds.

"There were guards where they were keeping Shawna. I used my powers on them."

"They dead?"

"Yes."

"Good. You feeling bad about it or something?"

"No…I wish there had been more of them. I don't believe that I have..." Roy stopped a moment, staring out over the field in front of them. He wondered what crops had been grown there at some point. He always assumed corn. He didn't know why. It could have been anything.

"Gotten it all out?" Mardon's words caused him to look over at the man beside him. Mark gave a small smirk. "All the rage and anger? You think if you just use your powers more, it'll all get out of you and you'll be back to center? Not sure it works like that Roy. I know it hasn't for me."

Mardon had trailed off as he had spoken, his words getting softer towards the end.

Roy nodded slightly.

He knew that. He knew using his powers wouldn't make all this go away. He wasn't even sure he would be able to paint what it all felt like correctly. He just…

Mardon stood up. He held a hand out to Roy and then pulled him up to standing.

"You're right. We need to get some sleep." Mardon was looking out over the horizon. "Big storm coming Roy. And we're going to be in the middle of it."

Mardon faltered slightly as they walked back to the house. Roy put his arm around Mardon and helped him back to his room. Normally Mardon would have protested such an action. Claiming he didn't need any help. Instead, Mardon had slung an arm over Roy's shoulders. Gripping tightly. Probably more so than was strictly necessary.

Roy didn't comment on it.

He had increased his grip as well.

He helped Mardon into bed, then headed back towards his own room. Double checking that Shawna was still in hers on the way.

He managed a few hours of sleep. Which he was secretly impressed by. He had thought he might have to lay there, thinking on everything that had happened to the Rogues. But his mind had been blissfully silent for a time.

The day passed in a strange haze. Awkward moments of standing around, of not entering certain rooms because no one knew what to say to one another.

Digger was staying on the outskirts of everything. Not quite sure if he was supposed to be back there. Not quite sure that anyone really wanted him back.

Axel had locked himself in his room. He had claimed at lunch that he was going to work on finding the shell corporations responsible for buying all the facilities. Roy had yet to hear the sounds of music or video games coming through the door. Which lead him to believe that little work was being done. Axel could only focus if he was doing twelve things at once.

Shawna and Mardon slept most of the day. Mardon was more alert today. He even managed to use his powers briefly. A small gust of wind, but it still felt like a great success. Roy was going to take any small sign of things going back to normal at this point.

Roy was certain the pyre that Mick was building was going to be seen from space. He was impressed by how much wood Mick had managed to collect. And the strange, intricate, way he had arranged it all.

Roy thought about calling Hartley.

Thought about checking in on him.

Then he saw Lisa, hunched over blueprints, not acknowledging anyone around her. Focused on her plans. Focused on her revenge.

Roy didn't think he blamed Hartley for what had happened. Intellectually, he didn't at least.

But it was difficult to think straight, when Snart's body was still lying cold in a room down the hall. Difficult to remember to keep the anger focused.

Somehow, though Roy barely noticed it, the day passed. And it was night again.

There were only seven people at this funeral.

Seven people who knew that the man laying on the pyre in front of them hadn't exactly been what anyone would consider a good man.

But that didn't matter.

Good or bad didn't matter here. Not when they were saying goodbye. They all watched as Mick took a few steps forward, pulled out his gun, and set the kindling ablaze.

Mick stepped back slowly from the flames until he was shoulder to shoulder with Lisa.

The rest of the Rogues were a few steps back. Just behind them. They were all family, but Lisa and Mick had known Snart the longest. They had the most memories to leave behind.

Roy couldn't take his eyes away as the fire climbed up the large mass of wood that Mick had accumulated.

As it reached Leonard Snart.

Snart's clothes caught on fire. Roy felt Shawna lean against his shoulder.

Roy didn't know how long they would stand out there or if they should have said something prior to lighting it. Most funerals had someone speak at the beginning didn't they? Saying fond memories of the deceased.

Everything that needed to be said about Leonard Snart was already…

"Mick?"

The man had taken a few steps toward the fire. Lisa was pulling slightly at his sleeve. Trying to get the pyromaniac's attention. But Roy could see the focus in Mick's eyes. Although…it wasn't the usual look of obsession that usually came across the man's face.

This was more…

Mick pulled his arm out of Lisa's grip and rushed towards the fire.

"Holy shit. Mick!"

Mick didn't stop, just started to climb up the pile of wood surrounding his friend. Mick's jacket caught on fire but he just kept moving forward, upwards, grabbing at Snart's body.

They were so shocked none of them moved. Roy couldn't even begin to think of something to do.

Lisa turned abruptly to Mardon.

"Put it out!"

Lisa's words shook them all out of their stunned disbelief. Mardon quickly conjured a rainstorm. The raindrops were thick and heavy, pounding down on them in fast violent torrents. They were all soaked within seconds. The rain stung on their faces and hands, as if trying to push them away from the scene in front of them.

Then, within a matter of moments, the fire was out.

And not a moment too soon. Mardon looked like he was going to pass out. Roy quickly grabbed Mark's arm and steadied him. Mardon was half bent over, gasping in deep breaths. The man was barely recovered, he shouldn't have used his powers like that.

What the hell was Mick doing?

They watched in stunned silence as Mick dragged Snart's body away from the pyre. Lisa stalked over to him, a look of fury on her face. She moved as if to grab her gun.

"Mick, what the fu…"

"He ain't burning."

Lisa stopped her movements. Twice now they all were shocked into immobility. Roy could feel this mouth fall open though no words came out. The others all had similar looks of disbelief.

Axel finally broke the silence.

"What?"

Mick didn't look up. Just kept his eyes on Snart's face.

"Look at 'em. His clothes all burned and smoking but his skin ain't touched. Should have been peeling and cracking by now. But…he's still cold."

Lisa bent down. Her hand hesitating above her brother's face. She reached forward slowly and touched him.

"How…"

She pulled off his singed jacket and lifted the still smoking shirt underneath.

Not a burn mark anywhere on his body.

There was no…possible explanation for this. Snart was dead. His body should have caught on fire. What…

Everyone turned and slowly looked at Digger. Digger looked just as shocked as the rest of them. He put his hands up in a placating manner.

"Don't look at me mate. He was down in a morgue on a slab when I found him. Two doctor types were there, figured they were going to do an autopsy on him like the rest of the bodies."

"What about the metas in the prison, were any of them..."

"One was a nutter and the other was unconscious. I didn't stick around to ask them twenty questions."

"Wait, wait hold up. Are you saying he isn't dead…he's just…frozen? Wouldn't being frozen, sort of…you know…kill him?"

Axel looked around the rest of the group, waiting for one of them to give an explanation that made any sort of sense.

Lisa stood up, her eyes still focused on her brother.

"Not if their experiments worked."

Mardon shook off Roy's arm and took a cautious step forward.

"Lisa…they tried to put my powers in some chick and she basically electrocuted herself. It could be they tried to put some ice meta's powers in him and it…killed him."

"And those powers are still active? Even after death?"

Mardon glanced over at Roy.

Roy knew what this sounded like. Grasping at straws. Trying to find any shred of proof that maybe Snart wasn't dead. Maybe they could save him after all.

Maybe the experiment had worked and Snart was just a metahuman now.

But what were the odds of that? That Captain Cold would be given ice powers?

Astronomical.

Laughable, even.

Roy didn't know what to say. He knew what he wanted to be true.

But that was rarely the same thing as reality.

Shawna looked at Lisa. She took a few steps towards the Rogues' current leader.

"My powers are still pretty weak but…maybe in a few days I could try jumping to the prison Digger found him in. We could look for any research left behind. See if those other metas are still there. We could determine if there's…"

Hope.

She didn't have to say it. But they all knew it.

That's what they were holding on to.

Lisa looked back down at her brother. At Mick still kneeling beside him.

"We'll take his body back to the safe house. Shawna, you and Digger will head back to the prison once you're able. Axel, you, Mardon and Roy are going to follow up on the leads we've found so far. We need more information on Project Parasite. We need to know exactly what those bastards did to him."

They all nodded.

Lisa glanced at her brother again. Her eyes never able to leave him for more than a few moments.

"Mick and I will find some old underworld contacts. See if anyone knows anything. Cadmus may be good, but everyone makes mistakes. Everyone leaves something behind. And we are going to find it. Do whatever you have to do to find out what happened to Len. We clear?"

They nodded. Axel gave a small salute.

It was an odd walk back to the farmhouse. Roy stuck close to Mardon in case the man collapsed suddenly. No one spoke, again they broke off to their respective rooms.

Roy sat down on his bed.

Well.

That happened.

What exactly "that" was, was still undecided.

Roy was removing his shoes when he heard the distinctive sound of Axel's music pulsing through the wall. He should be annoyed at the noise, at how difficult it would be to fall asleep with that techno garbage playing all night.

Instead he found it…oddly comforting.

Which was ridiculous. Roy was certain that tomorrow morning, when he had gotten no sleep he would be trying to kill the youngest Rogue.

Instead he slept straight through the night.

His restlessness from the night before had seemingly disappeared. They were all working towards a goal now. They were focused on the mission at hand. Following down any lead they could find.

Three days after the attempted funeral, Roy found himself sitting in a crappy motel room in Central City. There wasn't much to see from the room itself, a parking lot across from an abandoned factory. But Roy knew exactly where they were. He used to hide out on this side of town. People didn't ask too many questions out here.

"She's going to be pissed about this."

Roy ignored Mardon's words.

"She said to do whatever it takes. There's an asset out there we aren't utilizing…"

"Hey bro, I can get this up and running in no time, I mean no system can keep me out, this is…"

Roy ignored Axel and turned back to Mardon.

"You keep an eye on him and I'll get Hartley to help with the satellite tracking."

"You don't even know if he'll show. He's with the capes now."

"He's still a Rogue. He'll show."

Mardon looked doubtful but finally rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright. But if you're not back in an hour, I'm sending Axel after you. And I'm telling Lisa."

Roy left the motel and headed toward STAR Labs. ARGUS had finally admitted defeat and shut down the facility as a prison. Iron Heights was now outfitted with anti-meta cells and was far enough away from downtown that no one was protesting anymore. The place was completely abandoned. Which is why it would be perfect for Roy to meet Hartley there.

Roy had sent Hartley a text a few hours ago, telling him to meet him at STAR Labs. That there was something important they needed to discuss.

Roy walked into what had once been known as the Cortex. The main area that Team Flash seemed to spend most of their time. ARGUS had transformed it into a command center. Though the place had been stripped of technology when ARGUS abandoned the place. Now it was almost completely empty. Even the console in the middle of the room was nothing more than a hollowed out piece of metal.

Hartley was almost fifteen minutes late. Which wasn't like the kid.

Hartley would show up. Roy had told him it would just be him. That he needed to tell him something important.

Roy heard footsteps and turned to see Hartley coming through the door. The kid was a wreck. His hair was messed up and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. The kid had always been so particular about how he presented himself to the world. Never wanting anyone to see anything that might be interpreted as weakness. As something that could be used against him.

Still, Roy was glad to see him. Hartley would be able to…

Cisco stepped around the corner.

Roy stopped in his tracks. He had taken a step forward, intent on giving Hartley a brief hug before he told him that Cold might still be alive. But now…he was almost frozen to his spot.

He could barely get the words out.

"I told you to come alone."

Hartley was scanning the room. Looking for one of the others. Cisco didn't have a weapon in his hands, but Roy could tell he was ready to fight. He was wearing some kind of glasses as well, though they didn't look like the ones meant to counteract Roy's powers.

"Yea well, after the way the last meeting went, didn't really think it was safe to send him alone, especially since…"

Roy exhaled slowly. Something painful knotting in his chest. Hartley had a bad history of being abandoned by his family. He wasn't going to just walk into a meeting with…

With someone he didn't trust.

This was never going to work. Of course it wouldn't.

Roy thought about everything he had meant to say. Every apology, every plea for the kid to help them.

Now.

Now it was so clear.

"You were never coming back, were you?"

Roy didn't have to look at Hartley to know the truth. The kid had chosen not to come to Kansas City. Had chosen to stay with the good guys. He had made his choice months ago. Hell he had probably made it prior to the attacks and kidnappings.

Roy thought about the look Hartley used to get in his eyes. The glares he would give when Mick or Digger went a little too far beating on someone. How he never quite laughed as hard as the others when they talked about stealing from some unsuspecting mark.

Roy knew what it was now. Hartley had liked being among the Rogues, had liked being somewhere he belonged.

He just didn't like being a thief.

Didn't like hurting people. But he thought he didn't have a choice. Thought he had picked his side. That a life of crime was the only option left for him. Now he suddenly had a way out. An in with the people on the right side of the law. He could get his slate wiped clean, not have to look over his shoulder any more.

Whether he had realized it or not, Hartley had always wanted out.

Hartley barely looked at Roy, but his voice was arrogant.

Condescending.

"Seems like I made the right call on that one. As you were all just waiting for an excuse to kick me out. To kill me if I couldn't hack quickly enough for you, couldn't find the answer none of you imbeciles could see. But you've got Axel now, haven't you? Someone else whose past you can manipulate to your advantage until they aren't useful anymore."

Roy wanted to tell the kid that that wasn't it. He had always been a Rogue. He would always be a Rogue. Wanted to tell the kid everything that had happened. It would…

Roy hesitated. He knew exactly what telling Hartley about Cold would do.

Roy remembered the first time he had gotten out of prison. Rehabilitation inside had been a joke, but prison life had instilled in him a strong desire to never go back. So he had tried to get out of the life. Stop stealing, get a real job, make an honest living.

He stuck to the halfway house, went to every meeting with his parole officer, stayed away from all the people he used to work with.

He had actually tried to get out. To be different than what he had been.

But then the rent was due. And he couldn't get a job anywhere that would pay him more than minimum wage. And it wasn't enough. Not enough for food and housing and paint.

And then an old contact had come around, offering him an easy way back in. Money enough to last him a few months. Enough money to buy name brand food from a real grocery store. Not just whatever dry goods the dollar store down the street had in stock.

And it had been so easy to just…go back to what he was.

A thief.

If Roy told Hartley that Cold might still be alive…

The kid would come back. He would help. He would steal, he might even kill if he had to.

And he would never get out. Never be free of the life.

Out of all of the Rogues, Hartley was the only one who still had a chance of walking that path. Of staying on it for good.

He didn't have the lifetime of criminal experience like Mick or Mardon. Wasn't born into it like the Snarts. Didn't get off on the excitement like Shawna, Axel, or Digger. Didn't like the easy money like Roy did. Hartley had joined the Rogues out of necessity. Out of survival. And the kid had finally realized...he didn't need them anymore.

So Roy didn't respond to Hartley's comments. Just took one last look at the young genius. At the friend who had once almost gotten arrested trying to steal him paint. Who had spent countless hours trying to teach him chess. Who had been working for months on a way to cure Roy's color blindness.

Who would now try to throw Roy back in prison given the chance. Who would hunt him and the rest of the Rogues down if the Flash asked him to. Who would hate Roy for the rest of his life for this.

It didn't matter if Hartley only ever saw him as an enemy. It didn't change the fact that Hartley was his friend.

And you don't pull your friends back down into the mud with you.

Roy walked to the door. Cisco grabbed his arm as he tried to leave.

"Wait. That's it? You called him here to what? Do nothing and leave? You said you had something important to tell him."

Hartley was looking at him with confusion as well. It would be so easy to tell him the truth. To get him back on their side. The guilt he felt at Cold's death would push him back to them. It wouldn't take much.

Roy pulled his arm out of Cisco's grip.

"I thought I was meeting a Rogue. Clearly I was wrong."

Roy stalked away without looking back. He wondered briefly if the Flash was going to show up and whisk him away to another prison somewhere. But there was no breeze, no sign he was being followed, or tracked. Roy hesitated a moment, outside of STAR Labs.

Hartley had Roy's cell number and would be able to track it. If he hadn't already. He might have tracked Roy when he first sent the text. Too late to worry about that now.

Roy headed back to where he had left Mardon and Axel.

Mardon looked up as Roy entered the motel room.

"Well?"

"Hartley's with them now."

"No shit. He agree to help us?"

"I didn't tell him."

"Why not?"

"He…brought Cisco with him."

Mardon seemed to catch on to Roy's meaning.

"I told you he wasn't a Rogue any more. Lisa wasn't kidding about killing him before. Probably a good thing really. Kid never really seemed like he wanted to be in this for life."

Roy didn't say anything else. Just sat down in one of the crappy motel room chairs.

Axel was still typing away on his computer.

"So it is possible to get kicked out huh? I figured if stabbing a guy in the heart wasn't cause for removal then nothing would be. Thought you guys were all Three Musketeers for each other. Til death and all that nonsense?"

Roy didn't respond to Axel. Mardon slapped Axel on the back of his head.

"It'll be death for all of us if we don't get this done. Lisa will have our heads. Get to work."

"Alright, Alright. Geez. You people need to lighten up."

Roy sat down in a chair in the motel room. It was dark outside now. Being back in Central, even for a few days, had been a relief.

It was just the familiarity of the city, he knew. The feeling that this place belonged to them. The Rogues would always be a part of Central City.

Even if it wasn't true, it was something to hold on to.

"Think we should move? They might come after us."

Roy looked up at Mark. The man was standing at the window looking out into the dimly lit parking lot.

"We haven't done anything to break our deal with the Flash yet. They'll still be focused on getting all the other prisoners freed. Getting them medical attention. We should be fine for now."

"And if Hart decides to come after us? Kid's got a vindictive streak in him."

"We..."

"Boom! I am the best! You guys will be saying Hartley Who before too long."

"You got the info?"

"You bet your ass I did. There's a..."

Roy didn't really pay attention as Axel started rattling off the information he had found. The kid was going to have to repeat it all to Lisa and the others when they got back anyway. He could catch up there.

Roy let his eyes drift out the window. Mardon was right. Hartley did have a vindictive streak. It's possible the genius could hinder their ability to find out what happened to Cold.

Roy rubbed his eyes.

It was too late now. What was done was done. They were on opposite sides. Roy was going to have to remember that from now on.

 

* * *

 

Shawna used to have nightmares when she was little. Monsters would come out of the ground and try to pull her down into the mud. They would pull on her pigtails, tear at her dress. No matter how hard she fought, they always won. They always caught her. The thick dark mud would pour into her lungs, she would choke and cough and cry.

She was never fast enough to escape.

She would wake up and run screaming to her dad, crying on his chest. He would hold her in his arms. Petting her hair, singing lullabies to her until she fell asleep again.

When she would wake up in the morning, he would always be there. Telling her everything was going to be ok. That there were no monsters trying to pull her down into the mud. That her nightmares couldn't hurt her.

Even then, she had known that wasn't true. There were monsters. Waiting to try and grab at her when she wasn't looking. When she was vulnerable. But her daddy was strong. She was safe with him. He would never let the monsters get to her.

As she got older, she still had those nightmares. After her dad died, she would just lay in bed. Tears running down her face. Silently sobbing. Wishing the monsters would leave her in peace. Even when Clay had been beside her, she hadn't reached out to him. Hadn't woken him up. She knew he wouldn't understand. Would think her nightmares were stupid, childish things. She didn't want him to think she was some weak little girl, afraid of the dark.

She would curl up closer to him, trying to feel that same sense of security she had once felt. Hoping that laying close to Clay, but not having to confess her fears to him, would be enough.

It never was.

The first night after they got back to the safe house, she had slept straight through the night and into the next afternoon. She was still weak from what had been done to her. Too exhausted, physically and mentally for her mind to even be able to produce a dream.

The next night was the same. She had fallen asleep not long after Snart's attempted funeral and hadn't woken until morning.

Then her powers started to come back. Slowly, but she could feel them again. She was in a safe house with the Rogues. There was crappy takeout and blueprints everywhere. Mick was flicking his lighter. Digger was being too loud. Roy was painting quietly in the corner. She could start to almost remember what it felt like to be…her again.

Not some scared little girl locked in a dark room waiting for who she was to be stolen away piece by piece.

She could feel like Shawna Baez again.

So of course her nightmares would start back up. At first she just woke up crying, huge gasping sobs that hurt her chest. Then, the night before she was supposed to take Digger back to the prison, she had another one.

Complete darkness. Hands pulling at her, grabbing her hair and her arms. Mud flowing over her chest and into her mouth. She couldn't breathe. She could never breathe.

She didn't know if she screamed as she woke up, just that she was suddenly sitting upright in her bed. Sweat covering her body, tears running down her face. She kicked off her blankets and jumped out of the bed. She ran to the door and opened it. The hall light was still on, she stared at it for a long moment. Letting the meager bit of light seep into her mind.

She wasn't in the darkness. There was nothing grabbing at her.

She saw a light farther down the hall, coming from the living room. Shawna thought about leaving her door cracked a little, enough to let some light in. But the idea of going back into even the semi-darkness made her heart race. So she walked slowly towards the living room.

It was Lisa.

Standing over a table covered in printouts and files, maps and blueprints. Lisa didn't look up, but she waved a hand towards the kitchen area. Shawna blindly followed the silent command. There was a tea kettle and a box of pizza sitting on the counter. She couldn't stomach the idea of eating anything. So she poured some of the lukewarm water into a mug and dropped a tea bag into it.

Lisa was still looking over the paper work when Shawna sat down beside the table.

"What did you guys find?" Shawna was secretly impressed with how steady her voice sounded. She hadn't checked but she was certain her eyes were still red and puffy from crying.

Lisa and Mick had been gone every night since the funeral. Reaching out to anyone who would still talk to them. Anyone who might have seen something. Everyone from mob bosses to the homeless people that lived under the bridge near their old safe house.

"Logins and ID numbers from Axel. The people behind the project don't use photo ID or their own names for their logins. Just these long lines of code. Once we figure out how these numbers correspond to employees, we will be able to start hunting."

That wasn't actually what Shawna had asked but she figured it was late. Lisa wasn't paying too much attention to her anyway.

Mark, Axel, and Roy had been gone for a few days now. Running down some kind of lead. She had been so out of it the first few days she had been back she didn't really remember too much of the details.

She remembered not wanting them to go. Wanting them all to stick together.

It was safer that way.

"Have they checked in recently?" It was three in the morning. The boys had checked in at 11 pm. There was no reason for them to even be awake right now, let alone sending out signals of where they were. It was too soon.

But Mark and Roy were metas. They would be targeted if this Cadmus company found their location. She could feel the ghost of hands on her arms and legs. Pulling her back down into the dark. It was always the dark. There was no way to escape from it. No way to get free.

She couldn't stand the idea that that would happen to them.

Lisa placed a gentle hand on Shawna's shoulder.

"They'll be back soon. Are you sure you're ready to…"

Shawna took a deep breath.

"No. But…we've waited long enough. We need to be quick in case Digger is wrong about Cadmus just abandoning these places at the first sign of trouble. I…I'll be ok. And if I'm not, well at least I'll get to take Digger out with me when we implode."

Lisa gave a small smile at that. But there was still a hardness to her eyes. One that hadn't left her gaze since they went to Ferris Air to pick up her brother's body.

Shawna wrapped her hands around the mug. Letting the little bit of warmth seep into her fingers. She made no move to drink the tea, simply enjoying the feeling of it in her hands.

By the time either of them spoke again, the mug in her hands was cold. Shawna's eyes had started to drift shut, but she jerked her head up quickly when Lisa spoke.

"They'll be back soon. They'll be fine. I didn't want to split us up again so soon after…but…"

Getting as much information as possible was the right call. All the Rogues knew it. None of them so much as questioned it when Lisa had taken over as leader.

Shawna stood up out of her chair and gave Lisa a small smile.

"You're the boss. We will follow whatever you say."

Just like we did with your brother.

Shawna didn't say that last part out loud. But she knew that Lisa had heard it in her tone.

Lisa gave Shawna a nod, then went back to looking at the information in front of her.

Shawna quietly went back to her room. Leaving the door open just a crack.

The next day was spent preparing. Setting up jump locations. Making sure she wouldn't reappear missing a limb.

Her powers were almost completely back, but she was still weak. They ended up making almost a dozen more jumps than she normally would have had to make.

Digger had thrown up four times.

She had only thrown up once.

They were in a shitty motel in some town not more than an hour and half from the prison by the end of the day. Digger had made some kind of comment to the hotel clerk about having won a great deal of money, so he was going to need the room for the night, not just the hour. Shawna had been focused on not passing out in the lobby or she would have kicked him in the balls.

Digger put an arm around her and half carried her to the room. He semi-gently pushed her on to the bed. At least what Digger probably considered gently.

"Don't need you throwing up on the evidence love. Now just lie there and let a man do all the work."

Shawna had wanted to punch Digger in the face for that. But she had barely had the energy to pull the covers up on the bed. Whatever this place was, there was definitely something living in the sheets. She had slept in worse places, she thought as she drifted off.

When she woke up, her skin felt itchy. She opened her eyes and looked around the dimly lit room. There was definitely a cockroach crawling on the nightstand beside her. She was going to have to shower in bleach…

Digger wasn't there.

She sat up abruptly.

She was instantly pissed. That asshole was only supposed to go and recon the place. He should have been back hours ago. If he went out and got drunk instead or if he had done something stupid and gotten himself caught she was going to…

"Morning there sunshine. Don't you look chipper as always."

He had opened the door loudly. Seemingly not caring that she might have still been asleep. He didn't appear to be drunk, though she could be wrong about that.

He was wearing his jacket…

And there were three boomerangs missing from his holsters underneath.

"What did you do?" She was furious. If that asshole had ruined their chances of finding out what had happened to Cold…  
"Easy love, is that anyway to treat a man who brought you breakfast?"

He held up a paper bag that was already starting to leak through with grease.

She took two steps and slapped him across the face.

Hard.

He took a quick step back, though he didn't look particularly shocked by her actions.

She figured he must be used to women slapping him by now.

She realized this was the first time she had really been alone with Digger since his betrayal. Back at the safe house she had been out of it for a few days, then she had been focused on regaining her powers. The entire trip yesterday had been spent blocking out everything around her and focusing on the destination. About getting there without leaving any part of herself behind.

Now…now she was rested. And her powers were back. And she was so just so angry. She hadn't gotten the chance to do it back after all that shit went down with the Reverse Flash. He had disappeared with his son before she had gotten out of the hospital.

Then she had spent months traveling the world. Seeing everything that was out there. Trying to ignore the fact that she had almost died without seeing the Great Wall of China or Machu Picchu.

Now he was standing in front of her with that same smug grin. That same look like it was a big joke. Like nothing had happened. And she just wanted to keep hitting him.

He put his hands up.

"Alright. Alright I get it. You wanted to get to have some fun of your own. Knock some heads together but…"

"You think I'm pissed because you got into a fight? I'm angry because you betrayed us. Because you almost killed Hartley, because you made us weak. Because we almost lost everything because of you. And now, now we are on the verge of losing everything again and you're standing there with that stupid smile on your face like this is all a big joke. Like what you did…"

Digger's eyes had gotten hard as she had continued on her little tirade. He didn't pull one of his boomerangs, but Shawna was suddenly aware of how easy it would be for him to do so.  
"You want me to say I'm sorry love? Sit in a circle and hold hands and cry about our feelings? Not going to happen. I'm not sorry I betrayed the Rogues. Given the circumstances, I'd do it again in a bloody heartbeat. Don't go acting all high and mighty with me love. We all know that given the right circumstances you would do the exact same."

"I wouldn't betray the Rogues."

"Bullshit. And you know it. Did I want to kill Hartley? No. But if killing every single one of you and mounting your heads on pikes is what it would have taken to get Owen safe…It is exactly what I would have done. You're telling me that there isn't anyone that you wouldn't gladly trade my life for if given the chance? No one whose life you would put above mine."

"That's not…"

"We're all Rogues ain't we? Should all be equal. But we all know Mick and Lisa would let us fry to bring back Cold. Mardon would kill Axel outright to save Roy. And vice versa I think…course. You'd know something about that. Wouldn't ya?"

Shawna resisted the urge to look away. She wouldn't give the mercenary the satisfaction.

"I'm a lot of things love, but I've never lied about what I am. Who I am. Can't say the same can you? Now. Breakfast is getting cold. Then we gotta head out to the prison."

Shawna blinked at the abrupt change of tone.

"You didn't…"

"What? Go rushing in without a plan? That doesn't sound like me does it? I got into it with a couple of blokes that considered themselves the law in this town. Had to show them I wasn't to be messed with, but that I was just passing through. Not encroaching on their territory. Always good to meet the locals."

Shawna sat down and ate the breakfast Digger had brought.

He kept up a constant stream of nonsense but she barely spoke a word. By the time they pulled up to the prison she was regretting having eaten. Her stomach was in a constant state of turmoil. She was going to be lucky if she got through today without throwing up.

All the lights to the facility were still on. She turned to Digger.

"Were…"

"Looks just like it did when I was here. Don't look like it's been touched." The main door was still open. Digger walked through it quickly.

Shawna hesitated a moment, the urge to vomit was overpowering. She breathed in slowly through her nose.

God. She couldn't do this. What the hell had she been thinking? She just needed to…

"How come you don't wear something nicer?"

She jerked her head up and glared at Digger.

"What?"

"Just saying. You got a good enough body. Long as you keep working out I suppose. Why don't you wear something tighter at least? That way, you're using all your assets."

She was going to kill him. She unconsciously took a few steps towards the oblivious mercenary.

"You want me to wear a skin tight outfit…"

"Didn't say it had to be skin tight. Could be a bit more revealing. I mean…"

"Digger I swear to god if you don't shut up right now, the next time we travel, you are going to reappear missing your favorite appendage."

"Easy love. Just trying to give you a compliment."

She brushed past him angrily. Her hands were clenched tightly at her sides.

She had never liked Digger, but he was a Rogue. So she had tolerated him. Kept as far away from him as she could at the safe house. Now that she was working with him one on one it was like he was deliberately going out of his way to annoy her.

She stepped over the dead guards and headed for the prison cells. One of the prisoners was laying on the ground.

She knelt down. The man was dead. There didn't appear to be any kind of wound. Starvation or dehydration most likely.

"That was the loony. Mumbling to himself and all that. Couldn't even figure out the door was open." Digger poked his head into one of the cells. "Other one's gone. Might be able to pick up a trail. I'll go take a look outside."

She didn't turn around at Digger's words though she heard him retreating. She stared at the man on the floor a moment longer. She wanted to feel pity for him. Knew she should say a prayer or something. But all she felt was anger.

Idiot should have been stronger. Should have escaped on his own. Why the hell did he need someone to rescue him? Why wasn't he stronger?

She stood up and walked through the hallway and into the morgue.

She inspected the two on the floor first. Both of the bodies had been operated on. But they weren't autopsy scars like Digger had thought. They were similar, but there was something odd about them. There were scars on both sides, running up almost the length of the torso. In addition to the chest cavity procedure. Why would they need go in like that?

She went to the body on the slab. The body was still cold, thanks to the temperature in the room, but not as cold as Snart's body had been. She didn't see any signs of…

"Found this on one of the dead docs upstairs. Nothing else though."

Digger handed her a familiar looking needle.

"You found this on one of the doctors?"

"Yea? What's that matter? It's the same thing was used on you lot when you got snatched. Figure they keep it on them in case one gets out of line."

"Did you even listen to anything either Mark or I told you?"

"Course I did. You were all locked up…"

"And we never saw anyone who wasn't the other prisoners or a riot guard. I never even saw the other prisoner. They kept me locked in that room any time they had to open the door to the hallway. Afraid I would be able to escape. I never saw a doctor. Neither did Mardon or Stein or Jefferson. Or anyone else who was rescued. So why have this on them?"

"Insurance? Just in case something goes wrong?"

"They would use a gun. If this is the same thing they injected me with…"

She remembers what it had felt like. Her powers had been pushed down. She could still feel them. But it was like they weren't working properly. It was completely different than being in that room and….

"You still here love?"

The incisions in strange places. The needle.

"These weren't failed experiments. These were the successes."

"Don't seem too successful if everybody's dead."

"They had to stagger their experiments. Give us time for our powers to come back." She points to the people on the ground. "They were the first test subjects. And the experiments worked. They were able to retain their powers without it killing them. So they brought them down here. This wasn't an autopsy. It was a vivisection."

"A what?"

"It's…like an autopsy but performed on a living subject. Usually it's just done on animals in research labs…not…"

That could have been her. They pulled her powers out twice…three times? Would they have put her on one of these tables when they had sucked her dry? Using the drug in the needle to keep her powers just out of her reach, but still active enough that they could study them.

Could see how her heart reacted, how her brain reacted to each cut. Each instinct to escape.

"So why is that one dead?"

Digger's voice pulls her away from where she had been staring at the two bodies on the ground. She focuses on the other man, covered in blood and scars.

"I don't know. Maybe they gave him a sedative and it killed him. Or he died of dehydration like the one upstairs when no one woke him up. There's too many factors."

"Right. Well sounds like we've done our due diligence. Want to go get a drink?"

She looked up sharply.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What?"

"We are surrounded by dead bodies and you're asking me to go have a drink with you?"

"Yea? So? Not like I'm inviting them to come along."

She walked out of the room without saying another word to Digger.

"Is that a yes?"

That asshole had no respect. No sense of propriety.

She walked back to the car. Half tempted to just use her powers to get back to Central. Leave Digger to find his own way back. Would serve the bastard right if he got taken by Cadmus…

She took a deep breath. No. She wouldn't want that to happen to Digger. Or anyone. No one deserved that.

She slid into the passenger seat and waited for Digger to make his appearance. Almost ten minutes passed before the man finally open the car door and sat down beside her.

"There's a trail leading away from the place. Might be where the other meta buggered off to."

"We'll head back to the hotel. Tell Lisa what we found. See if she thinks it's worth it to chase him down."

"Got it love."

Lisa decided it wasn't worth it to track down the other meta. They couldn't waste time following down a meta who wouldn't know anything about Cadmus anyway. Lisa wanted to focus on the people who would have concrete information on Project Parasite.

It took Shawna a little longer to get them home. Her powers were dangerously close to being overtaxed when they finally made it back to the safe house. She could feel the weariness in her bones. She refused to let it show though. She'd be damned if she had to have Digger carry her again.

Shawna breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Roy, Mardon, and even Axel in the living room.

She sat down heavily on the couch, leaning against Roy when he made no effort to move away from her.

For the first time in a few days, she felt safe again.

She was back amongst the Rogues. They had a plan. They were going to find these bastards, they were going to get Cold back.

Everything was as it should be.

The nightmares…

They'd fade eventually. Like they always did. She could survive a few more sleepless nights. A few more dreams of blackness and grasping hands and mud filling up her throat.

She would survive.

She was a goddamn Rogue.


	7. Chapter 7

It was somewhere around the seventh or eighth time that Axel played his "Retro 90s" mix tape on repeat that Roy finally decided being mature about the situation was overrated.

He picked up the young man's iPod and threw it across the room.  
"Dude! I need that to focus on..."

"I don't care. If you play the Macarena one more time I will use my powers to leave you sobbing in the corner. Am I clear?"

"You can't use..."

"Those were Cold's rules, and he isn't exactly here. Neither is Lisa or anyone else for that matter. So if you don't find a way to keep an eye on security without that song I will be forced to…"

"Alright, alright I get it. You, scary meta. Me, poor underappreciated non-meta who has to do everything without his sweet play mix."

"It's not a mix if it's the same song over and over."

"Same song? Are you kidding me old man? Those were remixes! Each one was slightly different than the other one. I..."

Roy was regretting agreeing to stay behind with Axel on this one. The rest of the Rogues were breaking into a Cadmus dummy corporation. From what they had all managed to find out, Cadmus had one main office but it was mostly a front. They didn't keep anything useful there. They hid their top secret information at several small innocuous locations throughout the country.

And there just so happened to be one in Central City.

So they were at yet another unused backup safe house. Roy was beginning to wonder if the Snarts had enough real estate in the city that they could simply sell all they owned and make more money than in any heist they could pull.

The others had left several hours ago. Leaving Axel and Roy behind in case anything went wrong. Axel was monitoring them through satellite tracking, not using their regular methods of communication, in case Cadmus had used their communication network to find them before.

Roy sighed and stretched the kinks out of his neck. It was just the stress of the mission that was causing him to react badly to Axel. He was certain he had heard that mix played dozens of times in a row before. But for some reason, today it grated on his nerves.

It felt like they were getting closer. Closer to finding out the truth about what Cadmus was really after, how they could bring Snart back. Like it was just within their reach.

Which is why Roy was certain something terrible was going to happen at any moment.

Roy focused on the figures on the satellite images. The heat signatures that designated his teammates. It was always easy to pick out which one was Mick. His heat gun produced a low level heat signature that caused his image to flare brighter than any of the others. That would be Lisa in front of him.

Leading the charge.

Mardon was outside. Causing a morning fog that would naturally block the cameras surrounding the building from seeing the Rogues makes their entrance.

Digger was next to Mick. And Shawna was at the back. Watching the hallways, watching the windows. Always within arms reach of Digger. Who could grab Mick, who could grab onto Lisa, within a moment if they had to. They could be gone in an instant if anything went wrong.

"Booooooooooo."

Roy turned his attention back to Axel.

"What?"

"Hart's trying to hack me again. Trying to see what we are looking at. Annnndddd. Nope! Ha!" Axel turned his laptop so Roy could see the video on it. It was a kitten playing with a turtle. The kitten kept jumping frantically around the clearly unimpressed turtle. "I sent him this, and I embedded it in a Trojan horse. Any time he tries to use that program again, this video will pop up instead. Look at its little adorable face. Who's a slow little turtle, you are. You are. That's two for me, none for you."

"Didn't he get through your defenses the other day?"

"What? Barely, for like a millisecond maybe. He can have a fourth of a point for..."

The kid stopped talking, his eyes focusing on the computer in front of him.

"Axel?"

"Cold's body still in the basement?"

"Yea?"

"I'm getting some weirdness here. Might need to make a hasty retreat. I'd say go put him in the Trickstermobile. Case I need to warm things up a bit."

"We are not calling it that."

Axel ignored Roy and continued to focus on his laptop.

Roy really hoped that Axel had been kidding when he told Lisa he had set the safe house to explode if any Cadmus people tried to take over his system.

From the look in the kid's eyes. He didn't think he was.

Roy head quickly down into the basement. Cold's body was under a sheet, on a metal cart. He got the body out of the building and into the vehicle. A repurposed ambulance that played the music ice cream trucks play instead of having a siren. No one had been able to get a clear answer out of Axel as to why such a feature was necessary.

He closed the door, making sure Snart's body was secure inside.

Roy reached up and touched his ear.

"Axel?"

"Hm?"

"You still getting….weirdness?"

"It disappeared there. Though I think I figured out how to track down the signal. It's like...I mean it's not like a program or anything. It's almost like a full on AI, that can figure shit out and..."

Roy was halfway back to the front door when an explosion knocked it off of its hinges.

Roy hit the ground hard. The wave of fire and heat pushing him violently backwards. It took him a few moments to shake off his confusion and notice his sleeve was on fire. He patted the flames out. And looked towards the safe house.

The entire thing was on fire.

That idiot had actually rigged the house to explode.

How the hell was that a plan? Someone was going to have to have a long talk with this kid about the appropriate uses of explosive devices.

Roy struggled to his feet. The explosion had knocked him back into a parked car. He felt a small bit of blood start to run down his face. He touched the area gently, then held his hand out in front of him.

He…

He could see his breath.

There was a large fire coming from the safe house, Roy was close enough that he should be able to feel the heat from it.

But he couldn't.

In fact, he was starting to feel chilly. Roy heard a door behind him open. That wasn't possible, the only person in the ambulance was…

Cold.

Roy took an unconscious step backwards when Leonard Snart stepped through the now open doors

Snart's skin was so pale and his eyes…

They were completely white. How the hell could the man see through that?

"Snart…"

Roy's voice was little more than a whisper but Cold's head snapped towards him. For a few moments, the man just stared at him. Roy got the distinct feeling that Snart wasn't really looking at him. Couldn't actually see him.

"…Roy?"

The chill in Roy's bones was starting to spread throughout his whole body. It…it was getting a little hard to breathe actually.

He could see ice on the ground spreading towards his feet. Creeping up his shoes. He knew he should take a step back…but he couldn't move. He didn't know if it was from the ice or the shock.

Leonard Snart was alive.

Suddenly Snart took a few steps back, putting more space between him and Roy. His skin was still unnaturally white, but it seemed to be diluting back to its original color.

Roy took a deep breath. He hadn't realized how quickly the ice had spread up his body. How it seemed to be freezing everything around him.

Snart put his hands in front of his face, then reached over and touched the side of the ambulance. The entire thing was quickly covered in ice.

Snart turned his gaze back towards Roy.

"I feel as if I may have missed something, care to fill me in?"

Roy laughed. He couldn't help it. The sardonic tone, the way he seemed so unimpressed by the fact that he was now a meta human…it was just so…Snart.

"A company named Cadmus was experimenting with putting meta human abilities into people without the gene. Most people died….we thought you were dead."

"I see."

Snart was causing icicles to form on his hands, then breaking them and watching them fall to the ground.

Roy rolled his eyes. It had taken him weeks to figure out how to use his own powers. Figures Snart would be able to do it within minutes. Even now, the heat from the fire was starting to warm Roy. Snart was focusing on the ground in front of him, and the ice began to slowly retract back to him.

"How long?"

"We thought you were dead for over a week. Digger brought what we thought was your body back from the lab he found you in. But you'd been missing for weeks prior to that."

"Was anyone else…"

"Lisa's fine. Mardon and Shawna were taken. Experimented on. Everyone else was able to get away."

Snart's shoulders relaxed a bit. Then his eyes seemed to clear, the white film over them disappearing. Roy finally got the sense that Snart could see him.

"Why is the safe house on fire?"

Shit.

Right.

Roy whipped around to look at the flames. He had forgotten about the whole, almost getting blown up thing. Axel was…

"Axel. He set off a bomb to keep the Cadmus clones from getting to us….he's…"  
Roy pointed towards the burning building. The heat from the fire was unbearable, even from this distance, there was no way he would be able to get inside to find Axel. Snart walked quickly past Roy and right into the burning building.

Roy stared after the Rogue's leader in disbelief. He hadn't even had a moment to consider trying to stop Snart.

How was he going to explain to the others that Snart came back to life and then immediately died in a fire?

Thankfully, he was spared that particularly awkward conversation when Snart reappeared, dragging Axel by the collar of his jacket. Roy ran closer to the house and helped Snart pull Axel away.

Cold reached down to check Axel's pulse, and the young Rogue cried out in pain.

Snart jerked his hand away. He took a few steps back towards the fire.

Frostbite was visible on Axel's neck where Snart had touched him.

Snart pulled his hands closer to his chest. Staring at them as if they had betrayed him somehow.

The fire was still raging and now, Roy could hear the sound of sirens in the distance. Someone must have called the fire department. They needed to get out of here now, and they needed to get Axel and Cold somewhere safe. Especially if Cadmus was also on their way. Cadmus might want to take Snart back, if they knew he was still alive. Snart was still staring at his hands, at the ice that formed on them. Roy sighed, they were going to have to deal with that later. Roy pulled Axel up and dragged him over to a nearby car. He threw Axel in the back seat then climbed in and hotwired it. Snart was standing outside the passenger side door. His hand hesitating over the handle.

Finally, he grabbed the handle and pulled open the door. Though it looked like it was taking a great deal of concentration for him to do so. He sat down smoothly, but took great care to make sure his hands didn't come anywhere near Roy.

All of his effort seemed to be in keeping his hands as close to his chest as possible. The inside of the car quickly became uncomfortably cold. Roy leaned over and turned the heat up as high as it would go. Then pressed the button for the seat warmers too, just in case.

Roy just started driving, he didn't really have a destination in mind yet. If Cadmus had found them at the safe house, then it's possible that they would know about any of the Rogue safe houses that the Snarts had. They needed to go somewhere that no one knew about. Somewhere without technology that could be used to track them. Roy thought for a moment, then pulled a quick U-turn on the next street and started heading west. He might actually know a place that would work.

He knew he should call the others and let them know what was happening. Let them know about Cold, but…they were in the middle of job. If he called now, they would get distracted.

Roy looked over at Snart.

"The others are on a job."

"Best leave them to it then."

Roy sighed. Snart was the boss. He was the one who knew what was best for the team. If he said not to tell them. Then he wouldn't tell them.

"I think I know a place we can hide out. No one really knows about it."

"Hm."

Cold didn't say anything else. Just kept focusing on his hands, and breathing slowly. Roy wondered how much self control it was taking for Snart to not freeze the entire car.

Roy sped up. Trying to get them to their destination before Snart lost focus.

There was an old abandoned subway tunnel not too far from here. Roy had used it as a hiding spot a couple years back. Almost no one in Central knew about it. In the 80s the mayor had tried to get a subway built in Central, supposed to revitalize the economy somehow. They poured hundreds of thousands into it before there had been some kind of scandal. Something with prostitutes and inappropriate use of government money. The mayor had resigned in disgrace. And the project was abandoned.

There was only one portion that had ever been built. One platform and a couple hundred feet of tunnel. Was often used by the homeless around the city at first. But the cops had a tendency to check there in the late 80s and 90s. They had finally built a solid metal gate around the entrance. Closed it up with steel. No one could get in or out.

It sat unused for almost a decade before Roy had stumbled across the imposing metal gate one night. The entire thing had almost been completely covered by weeds. Rust has loosened one of the steel bars enough that Roy had been able to work on it enough, move it just slightly, to slip in. It had taken him hours.

Roy parked the car under the overpass and got Axel out of the back seat. He carried the still unconscious man over to the hidden entrance. The rusted out bar was still there. Roy would have to lay Axel down and start trying to work at it again. Maybe another would be broken as well, then he could...

Snart walked up beside Roy and wrapped his hands around two steel bars. They shattered in his grip. Snart turned and smirked at Roy.

Roy rolled his eyes, but didn't waste any time. He quickly started to carry Axel down the narrow entrance.

The tunnel was quiet and dark. There was a stench to the place, apparently other people had found his little hideaway and used it after Roy had abandoned it.

There weren't any mattresses or soft places to lay Axel down, so he just found the least dirty piece of ground. Which wasn't saying much. Roy pulled off his own jacket, balled it up, and put it under Axel's head. That was all the comfort he was going to be able to provide at the moment.

It was difficult to see down here, the light from the entrance barely reached the end of the stairs. Roy pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight app. The place was covered in rust and cobwebs. The mural he had painted on the wall was still there. A large looming face that glared down at anyone beneath him.

"Honestly Roy. I didn't know you had a supervillain lair. I'm almost jealous."

Roy smirked a little. He supposed it very well could have been his own private lair. But it had gotten so cold down here in the winters it had been impossible to stay for extended periods of time. Plus there was that whole, getting arrested thing.

Roy scanned his phone around the area, looking for any signs that someone else was down here. He couldn't possibly be the only one who knew about this place. And the last thing they needed right now was any more surprises. Thankfully there was no sign of anyone in the area with them. Snart walked down the length of the small abandoned railway. Roy put the phone down next to Axel so that the light pointed upwards. It didn't quite do enough to illuminate the area, but it was better than nothing.

Snart returned after only a few seconds. The line really wasn't that long, and mostly it was filled with rubble and leftover pieces of metal.

Axel still hadn't woken up, and there were a few burns on his hands that needed treating. Roy turned to Snart.

"I should go get some supplies. I haven't used this place seven or eight years."

"You shouldn't go alone. If this…Cadmus managed to find the safe house…"

"Axel needs some bandages and medicine, and my phone battery isn't going to last that long. There's a gas station about ten minutes away. I can get some quick supplies and ditch the car there. Shouldn't take more than 40 minutes to get there and back."

"I should..."

"You're pretty noticeable at the moment boss."

Snart looked down at himself. The frost was ever present on his skin and clothes. Even when the man was in control, the ice still spread along the ground around him. Snart took a careful look towards Axel. Roy briefly wondered what worried Snart more, leaving Axel alone or being left alone with Axel.

Finally Snart sighed and turned towards Roy.

"If you aren't back in 45 minutes I'm coming after you."

"Got it."

There was something so surreal about the entire situation. Talking to Snart like it was just another supply run. That there wasn't anything unusual about what was happening. They had just been attacked and now they were regrouping. Something they had done dozens of times before. Nothing new.

Except that Snart had been dead an hour ago.

Roy bent down and sent Mark a quick text, briefly stating that they had to abandon the safe house. He left out the part about it exploding. No reason to worry them. He sent directions. He didn't get a reply back. They were still in the middle of the heist. Still getting that information about Cadmus.

They would be back soon. Then they could get all this sorted out.

He looked back at Snart.

Roy knew he needed to leave. Knew he needed those supplies. But he had this…odd reluctance to go. To let Snart out of his sight.

Snart raised an eyebrow.

"Forty-three minutes now."

"Right…I…."

I'm glad you're not dead? I hope you aren't a hallucination brought on by a head injury? I'm worried that if I leave, when I come back you will be dead again?

What exactly was Roy supposed to say here?

"I'm going….chill."

Roy didn't think he had ever said chill before in his life. He was certain it sounded as ridiculous to Snart as it did to him. But the almost genuine smile that Snart gave him made it worth it.

"Hilarious. Leave the wordplay to me Roy. You're running out of time." Snart tapped his wrist, pointing at an imaginary watch. Roy didn't doubt that Snart was counting out the exact seconds in his head.

Roy waved a hand then walked out of the tunnel. Glancing back once or twice as he did.

Roy was still smiling at his joke when he got in the car. It was probably just the head injury that was making him feel this way. Lighter than he had in weeks. His smile faded as he drove, there was still so much they didn't know.

Still so much that could go wrong.

The gas station was thankfully open and Roy bought everything he thought they might need. Flashlights, a lantern, food, basic medical supplies, water. He was also able to buy a few canvas bags to carry it all in. He left the car in the parking lot and walked back to the tunnel.

It was slow going. Roy wondered briefly if he should have asked for an hour. He was woefully out of shape. In the months since he left Central he hadn't exactly kept up with the fitness regime that Snart had tried to force upon them. He hadn't needed it most of the time, running for their lives tended to be an excellent motivator.

His side twinged slightly when he shifted the bags. He had almost completely forgotten about the fact that he had been shot not too long ago. He was completely healed, but he was still reminded of the injury every now and then.

Some wounds never fully healed.

He finally managed to make it back to the tunnel, with almost six minutes to spare by his count. He set the bags down by the entrance when a car started to head down the one way road. He ducked behind a nearby tree, but relaxed when he recognized Mick in the front seat.

Mick and Lisa got out of the car. Mardon, Digger, and Shawna weren't with them. Roy tried to ignore the feeling that crept up his chest and into his throat.

Lisa waved a hand. She seemed to sense Roy's question before he even had a chance to voice it.

"They had to take the long way to get the cops off of our tail. Mardon texted, said they were a few minutes behind us. What is this place? You been hiding a little love nest from us?"

She was smiling. And then Roy stepped fully to the light emanating from the car and suddenly she looked angry.

"Roy, why are you covered in ash and blood?"

Shit. No wonder that gas station attendant had been looking at him so weird. He was lucky that this was a bad side of town and no one would call the cops on him.

"Axel blew up the safe house."

"He what?"

"Kid ok?"

"Yea he….well…"

What the hell was he supposed to say? Roy glanced quickly at Mick then back to Lisa. Might as well just get it over with.  
"Your brother…woke up."

Lisa's eyes widened. It might have been the first time he had ever seen genuine surprise on her face. She brushed past him, all but sprinting down the stairs. Mick's eyes followed her disappearing form before turning towards Roy.

"He right?" Mick points vaguely to his head.

"He seems to be the same person."

"But."

"The experiments worked. He has ice powers."

"Of course he does. They dangerous?"

"I don't think he can…touch anyone without hurting them."

Mick snorted.

"Good thing Snart ain't a hugger."

Roy smiled at little at that. He went to grab the bags and head down the tunnel but Mick grabbed his arm.

"Give 'em a minute."

Roy stopped and took a few steps back. Mimicking Mick in leaning against the car.

They stood like that for almost fifteen minutes before the other car pulled in. The rest of the Rogues piled out.

"Bloody hell mate. You got us hiding in sewers now?"

Roy supposed the entrance did look a bit like a large tunnel leading to the sewers. Mick nodded his head towards Mardon.

"Everything work out?"

"We lost the cops about ten minutes ago. No sign of the Flash. What happened there?" Mark points to the frozen shards of metal on the ground.

Mick didn't so much as hesitate.

"Snart's alive. Lisa's talking to him now."

Roy often admired Mick's blunt honesty. The way he just said the way things were. No hiding from the truth, no matter what it may be.

Shawna moved to stand by Roy.

"Seriously?" Roy nodded at Shawna's words. "Whoa."

"Well, really glad I decided not to just bury Snart in the woods and bugger off somewhere in Europe."

The Rogues all turned and glared at Digger. He looked surprised at their venomous looks.

"What? I said I decided not to do that."

Mark turned away from Digger and looked at Roy.

"Any reason he woke up?"

Roy shook his head.

"Not that I can tell. He wasn't close to the explosion when it happened. And we know that fire doesn't hurt him so..."

"Explosion?"

"Axel blew up the safe house. I guess Cadmus was getting too close..."

"What if..." Shawna bit her lip for a second then continued. "What if, Cadmus woke him up somehow. Like they put a chip in his neck or something and activated him like one of their clones?"

"Should we..."

Roy motioned towards the tunnel. Mick didn't make any move towards the entrance.

"Lisa can handle herself. She'll see if it's still him then let us know if..."

As if hearing her name, Lisa appeared at the entrance. She looked briefly around the group before starting to speak.

"As far as I can tell, it's Len. But we aren't going to take any chances. Especially since I don't think he has quite the grip on his powers that he wants us to think he has. Don't want him to freeze us all to death accidentally."

"Want us to steal a thingy?"

Mick points to his neck.

No doubt referencing the anti-meta collars the CCPD had created to keep metas in line when being transported to Iron Heights.

"Mick, head down into the tunnel. You too Mardon. Between the heat gun and your powers we should be able to keep the place from being turned into a frozen tundra. Shawna head down as well, check on Axel. And keep within reach of the others, in case Lenny's powers overcome theirs."

"Got it."  
"Digger and I will go steal a suppression collar from the CCPD. Roy..." Lisa looked Roy up and down. "Get cleaned up and see if you can make any sense of this..." She hands Roy a slightly charred hard drive. "Axel had it in his jacket. Might contain some information about what caused him to set off the explosions."

"We need to talk to him about the proper use of C4 at the safe house."

Lisa smirked.

"We will. When he's feeling better. No point in dressing the boy down if he wont even remember it later."

"There's an electronics store a couple blocks away, I can steal a laptop from there."

"Wait until Digger and I get back. I don't want anyone heading off alone right now. Get some rest until then. Have Shawna look at that cut on your head."

Roy nodded.

Digger and Lisa got into a car and headed out. Roy headed back down. Shawna was hovering over Axel, though her eyes kept darting towards Snart in the corner.

Mardon was leaning against a wall near the stairs. Mick was the closest to Snart. Talking low so Roy couldn't hear what they were saying.

"You think Shawna's right? That this is another Cadmus trap?"

"Don't know. He could have killed Axel and me but he didn't."

"Doesn't mean he wasn't just waiting to get us all in one place and then kill us."

"Suppose we will find that out rather quickly."

"Hm."

Mark didn't say anything else. Didn't make any effort to head over and talk to Snart directly. Roy knew the two of them had their fair share of problems, but Mardon had felt Snart's loss just as badly as the rest of them.

Mardon was more cautious in his optimism. Not willing to believe that the man in front of him was really their leader.

Roy could understand that.

If this was some sort of trap. If that wasn't really Snart...Roy wasn't sure how he would react to losing the man again. How any of them would react.

Roy sighed. Mardon didn't turn his head but his voice was firm.

"No."

"What?"

"We can't go to the Flash and ask him to run a test and see if it's a clone or not."

"It would make things easier."

"Not if Lisa kills the Flash. Or Hartley arrests us all out of spite."

"We need to be sure."

"Then we'll find some other lab. This city is rotten with science types and their multimillion dollar labs. Plenty of others to choose from. We're done with them."

"You don't have to keep reminding me."

"I'm thinking maybe I do. What's the matter Roy? You thinking of joining Hartley? Hitching your ride to the heroes?"

Roy snorted.

"Shut up Mark."

Mardon smiled.

"Just cause our interests have lined up a few times doesn't mean we can trust them. Especially..."

Mark stopped speaking but Roy knew what he meant.

Especially with something so important.

Roy walked over towards Shawna. She stood up and moved some hair out of his face.

"Not a bad cut. I'll just run a disinfectant wipe over it. You should be good. Clean some of this soot out of it too."

Roy obediently sat on the ground near Axel. He took the clean damp rag that she handed him and washed some of the dirt off of his face.

She kneeled in front of him, she put a hand on the side of his face.

"Gonna sting a little."

He attempted not to make a hissing noise when the alcohol hit the cut, though he wasn't quite sure he succeeded.

"At least you aren't as big a baby as Mark is. He'd be cussing up a storm."

He smirked a little at her pun.

"Good to know."

She smiled, then put a small bandage over the cut.

"There, that should do it." Her hand was still on the side of his head. He reached a hand up and put it over hers.

"Thank you."

"Of course."

"God get a room."

Axel mumbled quietly beside them. Shawna pulled her hand away slowly and gave a weak glare at Axel.

"You best be nice or I might just forget to give you your next dose of pain meds."

"Pssshhh. I don't need...ow. ow. Owie. Ok I take it back. I need them. I need all of the drugs. Please give me all of the drugs."

"It's just a fractured rib and some first degree burns. You'll be fine you big baby."

"And massive head trauma right? Because I am like 98% sure I am hallucinating right now."

Roy followed Axel's line of sight.

"You're not hallucinating. Snart's alive."

"Huh. Well. Good to know." Axel grimaced when he tried to sit up. Giving up after a moment. "Whhhyyyyy. Seriously though I will make you guys the best wedding present of all time if you just give me some pain pills. Pllleeeasssseeeee."

Roy rolled his eyes at Axel.

"You're the one that blew up the safe house."

"Wait...what? It..." Axel tried to sit again, then immediately flopped back down to the ground.

"My insides are broken. All of my insides are broken. I'm too pretty to die so young."

Shawna sighed.

"Stop moving around then and..."

"I didn't blow up the safe house."

"You said you put C4..."

"Yea, I totally put a whole bunch of C-4 around the place because it was super awesome and a great way to keep us from getting overrun by Cadmus again. But I never set off the trigger."

"Could they have activated it remotely?"

"No way, I made sure of it. I went like super, super old school. There was a button. Like a legit button, button. You have to physically press it with your hand. I mean it doesn't get more primitive than that."

"So why did the safe house explode then?"

"Don't know. My computer..."

Axel made a small whining noise. Roy pulled the semi scorched hard drive out of his pocket.

"Can you still get this to work?"

"Hell yea I...why does it hurt so bad?" Axel's excitability was definitely going to cause him problems while he healed. He had almost jumped up to grab the hard drive before remembering his injuries.

"You have fractured ribs dumbass, you have to take it slow."

"And I totes will. See...look...how...slow...I...can...goooo…." Axel was moving his hand at the same speed a sloth might move. Shawna rolled her eyes and slapped Axel's hand.

"Smart ass."

Roy handed the hard drive to Axel.

"Once Lisa and Digger get back we will get you a laptop. See if you can figure out what happened."

"Psh, why wait?" Axel pulled out his cell phone. "I had the security cameras on a private back up to this hard drive, and with a little tinkering made it so I could link it to my phone…Boom. There it is."

Roy and Shawna crowded closer to Axel, the three of them looking at the small screen.

They all saw it at almost the same time.

"Holy shit, is…"

"Well, that explains why the safe house exploded."

"See bro, I told you it wasn't me."

It was very clear, even on the small screen. Even with the grainy black and white footage.

Someone had launched a missile at the safe house.

 

* * *

 

When Len had been young, his grandfather used to drive him around in his work truck. He remembered it being loud, the engine making strange and terrible noises every time they tried to go above 45 miles per hour. There hadn't been any kind of tape player, and the radio had long since stopped working. So mostly they had just sat in silence.

Len remembered enjoying the quiet. Enjoying the sights that would fly by the truck's dirty windows. Mostly he remembered how safe he felt in the front seat. The truck was small, there was only room for one long bench seat. So sometimes, if he had a bad day or two with his father, he would slide right next to his grandfather. Loosening his seat belt so that he could press himself up against him.

"I'm just cold is all."

He knew now that his grandfather must have seen through his laughable attempt at a lie. The truck was always freezing, but it never bothered him. His father had been a stingy bastard. Never letting them turn on the a/c in the house or in his car. Claiming it cost too much. They weren't worth the extra money.

His grandfather always had the a/c on full blast when Len would climb inside. The feeling of it on his face always made him smile.

To this day the cold reminded him of this feeling of being safe. Outside of his father's reach.

Well. At least it had. Up until the point where he woke up inside an ambulance and realized that his touch was freezing everything around him.

He doesn't think Roy realizes how close he came to being frozen alive. The ice had been spreading towards him so quickly…Len couldn't tell it was Roy at first. Not until the man had said his name out loud.

Prior to that…all he had seen was heat. A source of warmth that he felt compelled to snuff out.

Thankfully the fire behind Roy was a larger source. It distracted Len. Gave him time to realize that he was the reason there was frost forming on Roy's skin.

He was extra careful after touching Axel.

He needed to figure this out.

Quickly.

When Lisa came running down the stairs, he had felt a mix of relief and fear that he hadn't felt since he was a child. Relief that he wasn't alone, and fear that something might happen to her.

"Lenny?" She didn't try to sprint towards him. Didn't try to hug him. In fact, her hand was on her gun. Her eyes flicking towards the unconscious Axel on the ground.

Len smirked.

Good girl.

"Hey sis."

She gave a small smile, but didn't take her hand off her gun.

"Hey jerk. I told the others you were just napping. Doing all this for the attention. You can be such a drama queen you know."

Len could see the exhaustion in the way she was standing. That small hidden sound in her voice that betrayed her concern.

How scared she had been.

Len tried to imagine what he would have done if he had thought Lisa was dead, even for a moment.

He doubted there would be much of Central City left.

"Well, you know how much I need my beauty sleep."

Lisa finally removed her hand from the gun. But she didn't move closer.

"You would find a way to make your theme more ridiculous."

Snart laughed lightly.

"I do so hate to be outdone. And I figured, well we need to keep up with the meta humans in this city. What better way than to become one?"

Lisa took a step closer.

He took a step back.

She looked at him carefully. No doubt she could see something was wrong. Could see it in the way he held his hands away from her. The way he was concentrating on keeping the ice as far away from her as possible.

The smile on her face was still genuine, though slightly more forced than it was a moment ago.

"Do we need to get an anti-meta box for you or something? One of those collars the cops have?"

Lisa was practical. Always coming up with ideas on how to get the job done, no matter what. She knew that the idea of being out of control of himself was not something that Leonard Snart handled well. Having to rely on something outside of himself to maintain control…

"Never hurts to be prepared."

She raised an eyebrow slightly but said nothing. She walked over to Axel, putting a careful hand on the boy's head.

He saw the way she lightly touched the area where he had left a mark.

"Digger and I will go steal a collar. The others can keep an eye on...things here. I can't imagine how excited Mick would be to use his heat gun on someone who can't burn. I imagine he's fantasized about setting you on fire dozens of times over the years."

"I don't doubt that."

They stared at each other a few more minutes. Not needing to say anything. They had learned long ago how to assess the state of the other with just a look. How to reassure one another without a word.

He lifted a hand to his face and idly made ice form. He found the movement soothing for some reason.

"Roy?"

"Upstairs. Greeted us when Mick and I got back. Others should be here soon."

"What was the..."

"Lenny."

"Hm?"

Lisa's look was disapproving.

"I'll take care of it. You rest. Mick can fill you in on all the details later."

Len took a small breath.

"You're the boss."

Lisa knew the situation. She knew all the players, had the information. She would be able to direct the others, keep them on task. He couldn't be sure that he could even control his powers yet. He needed to take a step back. Focus on what he could control. He couldn't rush into the situation.

Lisa was more than capable of leading the Rogues.

"Damn right. You'll be lucky if I let you have that title back when this is all over."

He smiled. They had never been overtly affectionate people. Of course, when they were young, he used to hug her all the time. Proof that not all affection was in harsh words and violent strikes from their father.

But that had been long ago. He couldn't remember the last time he had hugged his sister.

The ice around him crept towards her for a moment. He had let his mind wander and it took advantage. He focused on keeping it by him. Keeping it close.

The next few hours passed relatively quickly. He watched as the others moved about the room. Sparing glances in his direction. They set up small areas for each of them to sleep. Mardon had disappeared as some point and reappeared with a stolen truck with a few mattresses in it.

They were hardly what one would consider clean or comfortable. But they had all slept in worse conditions over the years.

He spent most of his time focusing on what he remembered from his captivity. Trying to recall every detail. He needed to remember everything if they were going to find the people responsible.

If they were going to figure out exactly what had been done to them all.

His experience was different than the others. Of course it would have been with him being a non-meta. But even then there were...inconsistencies. He wasn't immediately taken to some secret lab to be experimented on. When he first awoke after being taken from the safe house, he had initially thought he had just been arrested.

He had been put in a cell and a prison jumpsuit was sitting on the edge of his bed. He thought it odd there hadn't been any sort of processing when he arrived, but wrote it off as one of those new laws regarding how to handle meta humans and advanced weaponry users.

It wasn't like they didn't know who he was after all.

His ego aside, it soon became clear to him that this wasn't a normal prison. Mostly because all of the other inmates seemed to be homeless people. Many of whom didn't speak English.

Those he managed to get coherent sentences out of, all spoke about how people had been going missing for awhile. But never in numbers like this.

The government.

That's who they all blamed. Somehow the government was behind all of it.

Leonard sincerely doubted that. There was no way the US government was this well organized. He had broken into enough government facilities to determine that the security here was different. It was cutting edge, and there were keypads on the cells that he didn't recognize. And he made a point to know all the knew security measures that were released.

Nor did he recognize any of the uniforms the guards wore. He had thought it odd that no matter what he did, none of the guards ever spoke. They never reacted in anger, never seemed to be bothered by his questions or his taunts. The masks they wore made identifying them difficult. He would have to assume they were all clones like Mick had told him about.

It was several weeks before he was taken from his cell and woke up in one of the experimental areas. His new roommates had been of little assistance. Each knowing less about what was happening than the others.

The most coherent one, a meta human named Cameron Mahkent, had said that they were the second batch of non-metas. That the ones who came before had been taken away after the experiments.

It didn't take long for Len to realize what was happening.

But he had so little time to plan an escape. He had just been coming up with a viable one from the last prison.

He remembers a team of guards tying him to a table.

Then…

He woke up in the back of the ambulance.

He curses his memory and the frost spreads a little farther away from him. He takes a few deep breaths and it retracts back.

It bothers him to have such a gap in memory. To not know exactly what was done to him. If they had succeeded with the first group, they must have used Len and the other non-meta to replicate the experiment, to make sure it could be done over and over again.

The ability to make anyone into a metahuman could become a billion dollar business if marketed correctly.

What wouldn't people pay to be able to fly or read people's minds?

Would they really care where the results came from? Would they care that a few criminal metahumans and a few homeless people had to die for them to be able to achieve such things?

He doubted it.

Len sighed. He needed to get his thoughts in order. As soon as they brought him one of those collars to regulate his powers, he was going to have to write it all down. Look at it from afar.

It would be easier to see a pattern that way.

He almost hadn't been able to keep his powers from freezing the car he and Roy had been in. He doubted he would be able to hold a pencil for any extended amount of time.

He couldn't touch anything at the moment without having to concentrate fully to keep it from freezing.

Len tried to hide his relief when Lisa and Digger returned with a suppression collar. Digger took a few steps towards Len, pausing slightly when he reached the frost on the floor.

"Boss?"

Len took a deep breath then nodded.

Digger was within arms reach now. He opened the collar and carefully placed it around Len's neck. Then he retreated back towards where Roy and Mardon were sleeping.

Len still felt cold. Still felt like the ice was all around him.

Lisa was eyeing him.

"Might take a few minutes for you to warm up."

"Hm."

She nodded at him then walked away. Len stared at his hand. It still had that strange layer of ice on it.

He doesn't know how long he stares at his skin, at the frost starting to melt around him. Eventually he looks up.

Mick was standing only a few feet from him.

"Got some stuff we need to talk about."

Almost everyone was asleep. Lisa was faking it in the corner. Pretending not to be listening to everything he and Mick were talking about. Len touched the collar around his neck.

Mick had explained most of what happened with the Rogues in his absence. From Roy getting shot to Digger finding Mardon, to their clone friend. Explained their concerns that he might be a clone as well.

Len disregarded that completely.

"I would know if I was a clone Mick."

"Oh yea? Got a lot of experience with clones and coming back from the dead?"

He rolled his eyes. If he had been a clone, then he would have some sort of memory of being created.

"Unless they made it so you don't remember."

"You can use the same test on me that you did on the other one you had."

"Willing to feel emotions? You're really not doing any favors to make me think you're really Len."

He had glared at Mick at that. Though the pyro had merely smirked.

"Quit stalling."

Len looked at Mick. At the man's outstretched arm.

"Mick…"

"Just shut up and touch my arm Snart."

Len hesitated. What if the collar didn't work? They were designed to stop metahumans created by the particle accelerator explosion. His powers were something else entirely.

"You hate the cold Mick."

Mick just snorted. Seeing through Len's attempts at a diversion. Anything to get Mick to back away.

"Never stopped me from being around your Eskimo ass before."

"I…"

"Quit stalling and just touch my damn arm."

Len reached his hand out slowly. Then paused.

"If you really wanted to…"

"I already had to fight one Snart tonight to do this. I don't plan on fighting another."

"If Lisa wants…"

"We both know if you ever hurt her the first thing you would do is put a gun in your own mouth."

Len doesn't have a response to that. The truth of the statement hangs between them for a moment. Len was always slightly annoyed by how easy it seemed to be for Mick to read him.

He takes a deep breath and presses a single finger against Mick's skin.

Mick doesn't pull away. But that could be because of the scars. The dead tissue not allowing Mick to feel the pain right away. Len searches his friend's skin, looking for any sign of discoloration.

After another moment he wraps a hand around Mick's wrist.

Still nothing.

The suppression collar was working. He sighed in relief. This was just a temporary measure of course. A way to make sure his powers didn't fluctuate while he was sleeping and kill everyone around him.

That would be unfortunate. Especially considering how much time and effort they had put into bring him back.

Seemed like a terrible way to thank them for all their hard work.

Len removed his hand.

"I would appear that my chilly disposition has been contained."

"You're going to be worse about the puns now aren't you."

Len smirked. Then frowned slightly as a memory pushed it's way forward.

"I suppose I should be more careful what I wish for."

"What?"

"When Scarlet first proposed our little partnership, he asked me what my price was to help transport the metas. I wrote that I wanted metahuman powers as well. He had laughed and said it was impossible."

"You would want something like that."

"Yes. I would. Odd that I have these powers considering…"

"Considering you're Captain Cold? Yea, Lisa was talking about that too."

"I wasn't in the first round of experiments. Which meant they waited until they had a successful attempt before they decided to use me. And they specifically used an ice meta."

"So someone did this on purpose? Why? If Cadmus was just using you guys as lab rats, why would it matter who got what?"

"I don't know."

Which was exceedingly frustrating. Why risk giving him powers? Especially considering the Rogues record for jail breaks. Cadmus would have known their reputation, would have known that if they didn't get all of them at once, the others would come looking.

The smart thing to do would have been to capture the meta members of the Rogues, and kill the human members. Leave no one behind who could figure out what happened, who could launch a counter offensive. There had been dozens of homeless people in the prison, Cadmus wasn't lacking for test subjects. He got the feeling that the experiments had only been phase one of a larger plan.

Len touched the collar around his neck again.

There was something else at play here. Something he couldn't see yet.

He needed to focus. Ignore what had been done to him and look at the facts. Find the pattern.

Before Cadmus moved forward with the next part of their plan.

Before it was too late.


	8. Chapter 8

Roy would give Axel this. The boy was a hell of a showman.

"Ladies and Gentleman. It is I, the Trickster! What's that you say? Trickster who? The Rogues who? I know. I know my friends out there in the Twitter-verse that I have been tragically silent these past few weeks. No doubt you have been mourning the loss of my daily updates on all things rough and tumble in the Gem cities. Your Twitter feeds will no longer be sad and pathetic for I have returned. And so have the rest of our fine felons! Say hello everyone!"

Axel swung his phone around. Roy gives a half hearted wave from beside the van. The other Rogues give even less enthusiastic responses. Except for Lisa, who blows a kiss at the camera.

"Now. While I am certain you are all dying to hear my wonderful words of wisdom, today is not going to be just another Rogues heist. Not just another bank robbery. No. Today is something special. Today we are going to take back something that was stolen from us..." Axel gasps dramatically. "What's that? Someone stole from the Rogues? Who would do something so foolishly stupid? The cops? The Flash? The Hamburgler? No my friends, you see, the Rogues have many enemies. Enemies, who seem to think that they can hide behind their corporate offices and fancy suits. Think that we won't find them and take back what we are owed."

Lisa turns towards the laptop in the vehicle, momentarily ignoring Axel's theatrics. No doubt the Flash and the cops would be tracing the signal. Trying to use the surrounding buildings to find out where the Rogues were. What they were up to. Roy glanced towards the back seat, where Leonard Snart was sitting.

The collar on his neck still firmly in place.

"So boys and girls, tonight we send a little message. A happy little note to the ne'er do wells out there. The Rogues know all about your dirty little secrets and we are going to start releasing the information we have. Piece by piece. You will watch your little empires crumble. Or….you can turn over the person responsible. You know who you are. You have exactly….fifteen minutes and twenty three seconds to comply. Stand by kids. This could get downright nasty."

Axel clicks off the phone. Instantly sending the video out to his millions of followers.

"Alrighty boss lady."

Lisa keeps her eyes on the laptop. Axel had managed to create a program that would track any signal that attempted to disrupt theirs. That tried to locate them using the advanced programs that Cadmus must have. If they could backtrack it…

"There. That's where the signal is emanating from. Whoever keeps hacking us, keeps shutting down all the systems, that where they are. Shawna."

Shawna doesn't hesitate, she just grabs Roy, Digger, and Mark and teleports them instantly to the spot on the screen. They didn't know how long the tracker would work. Or how long the hackers would stay in one spot. Especially if they knew the Rogues have figured it out. They had to be ready for anything. He doubted these Cadmus boys were going to go down without a fight.

Roy didn't really know what he was expecting. A warehouse, a high security building, another hidden bunker. This...

They were in the middle of the damn suburbs.

A lady walking her dog across the street stopped and stared at them. Digger gave the lady a little wave then tapped the comm in his ear.

"Uhh, you mates sure that thing is working?"

Axel cut in over the headsets.

"You're standing directly in front of where the signal is coming from. Trust me dude, I heroically worked a million hours on finding that freaking hacker, in spite of my debilitating injuries."

Shawna looked around.

"Maybe those pain meds messed with your brain. Cause this looks downright homey. Just missing the white picket fence."

Roy had to agree. There was a welcome mat in the entryway. And a small little flag with a flock of birds painted on it hanging in the yard. Roy didn't know why someone would choose to hang something like that, but it didn't exactly scream evil hideout.

Incredibly bad taste, sure. Evil, no.

"Should…should we knock?" Shawna looked at the others.

"This is ridiculous." Mark causes a huge gust of wind to blow out all the windows and doors of the very normal looking two story house. Roy briefly wonders if the owners have insurance.

Does insurance cover weather events caused by metahumans? You would think the insurance companies would have capitalized on that by now.

Roy and Digger follow behind Mark while Shawna kept watch outside.

The kitchen had a bowl of fruit on the counter. Roy was certain people only did that in sitcoms and cleaning supply commercials. Why would you not put the apples in the fridge? And did anyone ever really use that many oranges?

The whole house is full of small little things that seem normal and yet, seem completely out of place at the same time.

Perhaps Roy simply doesn't know what constitutes normal anymore. He supposed he expected there to be empty pizza boxes on the counter, not fresh fruit. There isn't even any broken glass near the trash can from throwing an empty bottle and hitting the wall instead.

Roy wanders through the kitchen and into the living room, while Digger and Mark check upstairs. The tv remotes are in a little basket next to the couch. Mick once held on to the remote for three hours during a hockey game to keep Lisa from changing the channel and accidentally left it in the fridge when he went to grab another beer. Do people really keep their stuff this…organized?

God, he has been living with the Rogues too long.

Digger and Mark come back down the stairs. Apparently they came up just as empty handed as him.

Roy's about to tell Lisa this was a bust, that they only have five minutes before the imaginary deadline is up and Axel has to go back on his video, when Digger starts circling a part of the living room. He stops abruptly and looks at the painting on the wall. Roy hadn't really given it so much as a second glance. It looked like the kind of artwork you found in a hotel.

But Digger just keeps staring at it. Digger didn't give a damn about art so…

"Is there something hidden behind the painting?"

Roy figures it is the only reason Digger would be so interested in it. Mark glances at the painting Digger seems enthralled by.

"What, like a safe or something? Who puts a safe in the living room? Especially behind something so ugly. If the contents of the safe are anything like the rest of the house it will probably be full of boring and completely useless stuff. Like their birth certificates or family photos or some shit."

Mark picked up a nearby photo. It shows a happy couple, standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"God, this place is…"

"Too perfect." Digger turns away from the painting and walks towards the back door.

"What? You think these people are secretly freaks or something? Got a sex dungeon hidden somewhere?"

Roy and Mark follow after Digger. He immediately starts walking around the side of the building.

"What? Nah mate, nothing fun like that. Back when I was with ARGUS we had to run some ops where you were just some regular schmo in town for a business trip or something. Mostly it was to spy on the neighbors, suspected terrorists and the like. They would put up these safe houses for you stay in. Do 'em up so it looked like someone was really living there. Little touches here and there. Though it was like they were going off a manual or something. The decorating always looked the same." Digger finishes his circle around the building. He pauses in front of the storm cellar. He lifts the handle to reveal nothing but a semi stocked storm cellar. He smiles and turns towards them. "And there was always a hidden panic room, just in case."

Digger disappears down the hole. Roy and Mark look down. It's just a storm cellar as far as they can see. Roy turned towards Mark after a few seconds.

"Does it bother you as much as it does me, when he actually knows what he's doing?"

"It used to, up until he found me in the middle of the desert, in the middle of a different country. Then I figured…"

"Well I'll be bloody well damned."

They still couldn't see where Digger had disappeared to, but it didn't sound like he had gone far.

"What? Digger what is it?"

"Think I know why Axel hasn't been able to find the signal before."

Roy and Mark cautiously peered their heads into the storm cellar. Then they went down one at a time. Digger had pulled back one of the metal shelves revealing a door. Roy looked inside. It wasn't exactly what Roy had assumed would be in a panic room like this. Especially from whoever was supposed to be tracking them. There were no computers. No electronics of any kind actually. The room was even lit by a small lantern in the corner. The room was sparse, rustic in its composition. There was no plumbing, just a bucket and some water.

There was a small mattress in the corner. A pillow and a single sheet.

And a young girl sitting on the edge.

"Ello love. What's your name then?"

The little girl didn't look up at Digger. Didn't even seem to notice that anyone was in the room with her. Digger waved a hand in front of her eyes, then snapped his fingers a few times. The girl still doesn't move.

"Maybe someone should get Shawna."

Roy rolled his eyes.

"What the hell is Shawna going to do?"

"I don't know. She's the woman. She…."

Lisa cut in over the coms. Roy startled slightly. He had forgotten they were on an open channel.

"Be careful how you finish that sentence Digger."

"Oh you know what I meant. There's no hacker. It's just some little girl. Though all spaced out like she is, I'm betting Cadmus got something to do with it."

"I knew it! I knew it had to be something freaky, no one is better than I am." Axel's voice was quickly muffled.

"Bring her here."

"You sure about that love?"

"Do it Digger."

"Alright." Digger bends down and picks up the still unresponsive girl. Roy looked into the girl's eyes, they were open but they weren't staring at anything. There was something there though. Roy knew he wasn't imagining those almost electric sparks behind her eyes.

"They must have drugged her. Got her so she only sees what they want her to."

"Why isn't there guards or something here? An asset like that and they just leave it locked in a room with no protection?"

"No idea."

They walk back around to the front of the house. Shawna doesn't appear too phased.

"Dude this place gives me the creeps. Why the hell hasn't anyone spotted us yet? I mean, I've been standing in front of this house and no one has called the cops yet? Something has got to be seriously weird with this place."

"We will talk about the inherent isolationism of the suburbs later. Right now, get your asses back here. The show's about to start."

"Yes ma'am."

The others don't look like they have moved from their position since Roy and the others left ten minutes ago. Which, now that Shawna had said something. Did seem a little strange. Usually someone spots them by now. Or the Flash gets wind.

Mick turned and looked at the kid in Digger's arms.

"Pretty young for a new recruit."

Digger tries to hand the kid off to Mick. Mick just grunts and turns back towards Lisa and Cold in the van. Digger gives Shawna a pleading look. She just smirks and holds up her hands.

"Oh hell no Digger. That is all you."

"Oh come on love, your…"

Lisa steps out of the van.

"Shawna, take Digger and the kid back to the safe house. Then get back here."

Digger looks like he is going to protest. The man had been getting rather itchy lately. He was going to be upset if he had to miss the day's festivities. He had been complaining of the lack of action ever since Lisa had explained the plan.

"What do you mean there's no one to kill?" Digger had basically been whining. The man had sounded legitimately sad as he continued to sharpen his boomerangs. "I thought the whole plan was to find all these bastards and kill them all."

Lisa had glared at Digger over the plans.

"Cadmus has been able to hide almost all of their personnel information. And the information that we could come up with is leading us to old board members who aren't even remotely linked to Project Parasite. If we go after them, then they will just be replaced by some other nameless drone in a suit. We need to find the scientists in charge. The ones that actually made the decisions. There has to be someone pulling the strings, and we need to lure them out. You're just going to have to be patient a little while longer."

"Somehow Cadmus has become multi billion dollar company in just the past few years. And yet they are able to pull off a level of secrecy most government agencies would be jealous of. Knocking over a few of their holdings and stealing from a few CEOs isn't going to get the people who are really responsible."

"So we are...and I can't believe I'm saying this...follow Axel's lead."

Mark snorted.

"What? We're going to spray paint every cop car in Central with smiley faces?

"Hey man! It was emojis. Not smiley faces, who still says smiley faces, what are you like 60? Show a little respect for the process man."

Lisa held up a hand to forestall the coming argument.

"No. We are going to spread the word. Their plan has worked because everyone who got kidnapped has remained quiet. Trying to stay under the radar or because the Flash told them to. No doubt they are trying to find out who is behind this in their own way. But we aren't going to wait around any longer."

Lisa had been right. Cadmus had been able to get away with this, because no one knew what they were really capable of. Because the whole world thought Cadmus just made beakers and test tubes. Every piece of paper, every scrap of evidence had pointed towards Cadmus being a legitimate business. The only small hints that they had been able to find, wouldn't be enough to expose them. To destroy those truly responsible.

They had to bring those people out, so they could end this.

Digger opened his mouth like he might complain about being sidelined with the kid, but Shawna just disappeared with both of them before he could speak.

She was back less than thirty seconds later.

She smirked at Roy.

"From now on, I'll just teleport Digger away before he can open his mouth."

Roy smiled back.

"Sounds like a plan."

Mick glanced at his watch.

"Forty three seconds to go before the deadline."

"Axel. Get back on the video. Time to show the world how serious we are."

Axel pulled out his phone.

"EEEEEE. Time's up boys and girls. It would appear that our dear friends seem to think the Rogues have gone soft. That we have lost our more murderous instincts. Well, my gentle followers, what do you think? Do you think the Rogues are losing their touch? Think we are following a kinder, better path? Perhaps the Flash has gotten to us. Perhaps we have decided to renounce our wicked ways and walk the straight and narrow. Oh how wicked we were! To think that we have seen the light at last!"

Axel pauses, closing his eyes and throwing a hand over them.

"Or…."

Axel peeks through his fingers, grinning maniacally at the camera.

"Perhaps we've just been lulling you into a false sense of security. Making you think that you have seen everything we are capable of. Well, the Rogues are tired of holding back. Tired of playing by someone else's rules. Today, the Rogues strike back at our enemies. Today, we declare war on the people that tried to steal from us. Today we get our revenge. And ladies and gentleman I can assure you, revenge is a dish best served...Cold."

Snart stepped dramatically out of the van. So far, he had remained hidden from the camera. Obscured from the spotlight by the van. As soon as Axel began his little speech, Cold had removed his collar. Roy had felt the temperature around them lower significantly. Mick made a small disgruntled noise. Cold had spent the last few days working on controlling his powers. Working on making sure that when the time came, he would be able to use them without issue.

Would be able to show the world that he was in complete control.

Axel followed Cold as he walked away from the van and finally all of his followers could see exactly where the Rogues were.

The building was a large corporate office. Not owned by Cadmus, but rather a subsidiary of a subsidiary. It had taken them weeks to find the connection between the two companies. To find out that sort of deals that went on under the table. This company had made many of the security upgrades to the bunkers. Installing the keypads and the cameras. And the anti-meta tech in most of the buildings.

As far as the rest of the world was concerned, this would look like a random attack. But those who worked with Cadmus, those in charge, would know. Would know that the Rogues were getting closer. But they wouldn't know how close. Lisa wanted Cadmus to think that the Rogues didn't know the full extent of their reach. That this was all they had been able to find.

They weren't going to attack Cadmus directly. Not yet. Not until they had everything they needed.

It was always better when your opponent underestimated you.

Cold walked towards the building, there was a large water fountain that poured out into a pool in front of the main entrance. Snart stepped onto the water and it froze beneath his feet. He continued walking without so much as a single hesitation.

"Like the guy didn't think he could walk on water before." Mardon mumbled under his breath. Roy smirked but didn't comment.

The permeating chill that followed Snart everywhere he went now was still lingering around them.

Mick had his gun out, he stood between Snart and the rest of the Rogues. His finger on the trigger, just in case Snart couldn't keep his powers going in the right direction.

The entire front of the building begins to ice over the closer Snart gets to it. Roy can see people inside, moving backwards from the windows. Snart had calculated it all of course. How long the people inside could survive. How cold his temperature would have to be to freeze just the exterior of the building without the cold instantly freezing the people inside.

The ice would drop the temperature inside dramatically, but as long as the Flash…

Well…speak of the devil.

"Snart?"

"Scarlet. So good of you to join us."

The Flash didn't move. The disbelief on his face was obvious even through the mask. Understandable, considering the last time he had seen Cold was in a body bag. He took a few cautious steps forward.

"How are..." The Flash stopped, shaking off his stupor. "You have to stop what you are doing. You'll freeze the people inside."

"That is the plan." Snart drawled slowly.

It wasn't of course. But the Flash didn't know that. The Rogues didn't kill civilians. It was a relatively well known fact at this point. Which meant, it made them predictable.

They had to make Cadmus and whoever was behind all this, believe that their experiences with the torture had changed them. Made them harder. More willing to sacrifice anyone to get what they want. Not that they weren't willing to kill whoever was directly responsible, but that didn't mean they were going to kill a bunch of nobodies for no reason.

It was all a show. And as good as Axel was...

No one was better than Leonard Snart.

"Snart, you..."

"You know what I learned from being dead Flash? From having the Rogues kidnapped, tortured, and experimented on?"

"Don't..."

"I learned, that the good people of this city don't care what happens to us. I mean I've always known that of course. A criminal goes missing and the world doesn't miss a beat. But it wasn't just criminals was it? Wasn't just meta humans. How many people disappeared in one day Flash? Do you know? I do. Two hundred and fifty three people. And no one even noticed. Or if they did, they didn't care. They told themselves it was for the best. All those nasty little metahumans finally gone, just a few less homeless people blocking their path on the way to work. Tell me, did the police even start an investigation?"

"Of course they..."

"Before you brought it to their attention? Before you said that a few of your friends had gone missing? And tell me Flash, exactly how much effort did the cops put into looking into this?"

The Flash was silent for a moment. All the confirmation that Snart and Axel's viewers would need.

"You see Flash, you and I had a deal. No deaths of civilians. No one who didn't deserve to die, would die. But you see, now we know the truth..." The Flash touched his earpiece and looked around him, seemingly only now realizing he was surrounded by the rest of the Rogues. "No one is innocent. Everyone in this city deserves to die."

Cold turned abruptly, his ice racing towards the Flash. The Flash moves, still faster than humanly possible. But not quite at his normal super speed. The cold in the air was slowing him down. Causing him to stumble, to not make his turns as quickly as he should. Mick and Lisa used their guns to herd the Flash away from the building. Shawna teleports Roy into the Flash's path, causing the speedster to make an abrupt turn. Right into Mardon's line of fire.

Mardon hits the Flash with a bolt of lightening. The Flash is thrown several feet, rolling over and over before landing with a dull thud at the base of the building. Cold walks slowly over towards the fallen superhero. Snart's movements are calculated and calm. Like a cat playing with a mouse. Cold covers the fallen superhero in a thick layer of ice. Leaving only the Flash's head uncovered. Cold bends down and smiles at the Flash.

"We are tired of playing games. Tired of following your pathetic rules. I only agreed because of the challenge of it, the extra layer of fun it added to the heists. But as you can see..." Cold creates a layer of ice on his hand. He forms it into several jagged points. He puts one of the razor sharp points against the Flash's neck. "I've found a new way to up my game."

"Sna...rrrtt...You...you...don't...have..."

The Flash's teeth were chattering so loudly it was difficult to understand the kid's words.

"We didn't start this Flash. They did. When we are done, everyone involved will be punished. Their lives ruined. Or they will be dead. Either way, anyone who gets in our way will be dealt with. Including you."

Snart stands then puts a boot on the Flash's chest. The ice cracks slightly causing the Flash to cry out in pain.

"Every time you have faced us, every time the cops have come after us, we have held back. Not allowed ourselves to unleash our full power. Central City will soon realize what we are capable of. The world will see what we are capable of. And believe me Scarlet, the world will not forget us ever again."

Cold removed his boot.

Roy could already see the heat signature where the Flash's suit was melting Cold's ice.

"Better be quick Flash. Those innocent people inside don't have much time left."

They had exactly 27 minutes actually. Which was more than enough time for the fire department to get here and break open the doors.

Lisa was monitoring the temperature in the building, making sure everything was staying on schedule. If the firefighters or the Flash couldn't get in, Shawna was the back up. She would go in and pull everyone out. She could give some sob story to the Flash, say she was just a thief. That she didn't want to be a mass murderer. That Snart had gone crazy since his return.

But that was Plan B. Lisa didn't want to have to play that card yet. Best to let everyone think that the Rogues were still unified under Snart. That they all wanted to kill as many people as possible.

This was all just bait anyway.

Even if Cadmus didn't bite, ARGUS would.

"Why the hell are we trying to get the Wall involved in all this?"

"Because Digger, she is bound to have noticed the disappearances."

"Yea, so?"

"And a woman like that isn't going to like someone creeping in on her territory. Massive covert jobs are her thing. If she didn't know about it beforehand she might be willing to give us information that we need. And if she did know about it..."

"Lisa...I'm begging you. Please say that I get to kill Amanda Waller."

"Only if she knew about this before hand."

"Yes! Course she knew. Bitch knows everything. Oh I am going to make a special boomerang just for her. Going to engrave her name on it."

"You do that. Once Lenny goes public, ARGUS is going to track us. So we need to get the Flash out of the equation..."

"Temporarily sis."

Lisa's eyes had flashed at that. Roy was suddenly thankful she wasn't the one who had been given powers. She might have accidentally killed her brother with that look.

"You can't be serious."

"Lisa..."

"You would be dead right now because of him."

"Cadmus is the one to blame and we need to focus on them. Killing the Flash would only cause further distractions. The Arrow, the Black Canary, ATOM, Firestorm….just to name a few. They would all rally around the Flash's death and attack us with full force. And we don't need that right now. We need to stay focused on Cadmus. We know how the Flash and his team operate, we don't need to bring in a bunch of emotional unknown variables distracting us from the objective."

Lisa hadn't looked convinced, and Roy was certain that if she got the chance, she was going to kill the Flash. Maybe not today, since it would ruin the plan. But once Cadmus was dealt with…

Axel moved closer to the downed superhero, suddenly laying down on the ground beside the Flash.

"Selfie!" He stuck out his tongue and threw up a peace sign.

Roy smirked. The kid couldn't help himself. Axel just smiled at his phone.

"Well boys and girls, what do you think? Have the Rogues lost their touch? Or does aaaaalllllllll this...show you what we are really capable of? I know you, my dear followers, are not like those other people. Not like the masses that stood by and did nothing as people were torn from their homes. You...you are smart. Clever people. You want to help fight against the monsters out there. I know I can count on most of you to help our cause. That you understand what it means to be a an outcast. And you will join us. You know, deep down, that you want to. It's time my friends. It's time for all of us to go rogue."

Axel gave his phone a full salute. Then he clicked it off and gave Snart a thumbs up.

Cold nodded then turned towards the Flash one more time.

"Don't worry Flash we aren't going to kill you today. But, and I am only going to say this once Scarlet, stay out of our way. Or next time won't be so pleasant."

"Cccc...an't lettt, you kkkilll…."

"That old chestnut again? Sorry Flash, the days of negotiating are over. Stay out of our way. Or I will kill you."

"You..."

"Or maybe, I'll just kill every single person you care about. Either way Flash, it doesn't end well for you. Sit this one out. Let the bad guys take care of things. Let us do what needs to be done. What you are always too afraid to do. End it for good."

Snart moved away from Flash. The ice around the Flash was almost completely melted, he was going to be able to break free soon.

"Shawna."

The Rogues were gone in an instant. Lisa kept an eye on the temperature readings of the building. The fire dept was able to bust through the doors and get the people inside out with almost five minutes to spare. A few cases of minor hypothermia. Nothing a few days in the hospital wouldn't fix.

"Axel?"

"Dude my feed is blowing up. Like I just got 10,000 new followers in the last few minutes. Whole world's going to see that by the end of the day. Maybe the end of the hour at this rate."

"Good. Keep an eye on it. Send your followers a few photos, see if they can't identify our mystery clones. Harkness, how's the kid?"

"Don't bloody know, just keeps staring off into the distance. Can't tell if she's drugged or just crackers."

"We need to drop her off somewhere no one can find her. Until we can figure out what Cadmus was doing to her."

"I have a few friends in Gotham that might be able to help with that brother dear, for a price. I know they would never let a little girl be hurt by anybody, and have the right…skillset to keep her safe."

"Good." Snart looked around for a few moments, then casually put the suppression collar back on. No one said anything about it.

Mick gave the little girl a look.

"Sure it's a good idea to dump the kid?"

"I don't think a ten year old is going to be able to give us the information we need on Cadmus. And we don't know if they have some sort of tracker her on, might be why they didn't have anyone guarding her."

"Mmm."

Mick didn't seem particularly convinced. Snart sounded slightly annoyed.

"What Mick?"

"Just seems like we haven't run into too much resistance."

Axel practically buzzes around the non-meta Rogues.

"Cause we are awesome and these fools can't touch…"

Mick continues his tried and true method of dealing with Axel by ignoring him.

"They've attacked us sure. But there's hardly been any security when we go at them."

"What are you saying?

"Don't know. Just don't seem right. We've broken into banks with better security guards."

"We had surprise on our side Mick. And better tactics. Cadmus isn't the first group that thought they could take on the Rogues and they won't be the last. We beat them, the same way we have beat everyone else."

Mick still didn't seem convinced, but let it slide. The Snart siblings, Mick, and Axel started reviewing some of the footage from the attack on the safe houses. Comparing it to some of the tweets Axel's followers were already sending in. Mark, Shawna, and Roy all moved into the little area they had designated the kitchen. It was just a small folding table they had found, two chairs and cooler. But still.

"You think Mick's right about the security being lax?"

"Who knows? Maybe those Cadmus assholes were just cocky. Hell we've broken into ARGUS and the pipeline, we are basically experts at this shit."

Roy nodded silently then pulled a beer out of the cooler. Digger suddenly appeared behind Roy's shoulder. Roy handed him the beer then grabbed another one for himself.

"Who's watching the kid?"

"Not like she's going anywhere. Sides, this place is basically the same as where we found her. She's probably used to being left alone."

Shawna rolled her eyes and stood up from the table.

"I'll check and make sure she isn't hurt."

Roy's phone beeped. Strange considering the only person who had that number was Digger and he was standing two feet from him.

Roy glanced down at the screen.

_My place, come alone_

It was from Hartley. Roy didn't have anyway of knowing that, seeing as the number was blocked. It was possible it could be from someone else. But he found that unlikely. Hartley would have been watching Axel's feed.

He knew by now that Cold was alive.

Roy stood up slowly, hiding the cell phone in his pocket.

"I'm going to go walk around a little bit."

Digger didn't even look up, Mark just sort of waved. They had all done it over the last few days. Just sort of walked up the stairs of the tunnel and lingered around the entrance. They were all sharing one large room, so moments of privacy were few and far between.

He just didn't mention that he was going a little farther than the entrance.

Roy vaguely remembered where Harley lived. It took a little driving around but he managed to find the apartment complex. Then he parked a few blocks away. He walked slowly towards the building. He knew this was stupid. Didn't even really know why he had agreed to meet with Hartley. The boy was going to be furious.

Roy was still a block from the apartment when a hand wrapped around his arm, pulling him into a nearby alley. Roy moved to remove his shades, but stopped when he saw who had grabbed him.

Hartley's grip on Roy's arm was crushing. Roy was certain there was going to be a bruise there later.

"Why?"

There was anger in Hartley's eyes. Unmitigated fury. The kid knew Snart was alive now. Must have figured out what Roy had called him up to tell him at STAR Labs. And was now trying to decide why Roy hadn't told him. Trying to figure out why Roy would hurt him like that.

"You wanted me to suffer is that it? Thought I deserved to be punished just a little more, that I hadn't been tormented enough? Is that it? I…I thought we were friends Roy."

The anger had trailed off to something more somber. Something painfully sad. Roy wanted to tell Hartley the truth. Wanted to tell him it had been for his own good. That Roy was still Hartley's friend.

"You're the one who betrayed us."

Roy couldn't believe how cold his own words sounded. How uncaring.

Hartley jerked his arm back like he had been burned. His eyes were narrow, looking at Roy like he was seeing him for the first time.

Heroes can't be friends with thieves.

This was the way it had to be if the kid was going to get out and stay out.

He was sure the others would agree.

Not that he had any intention of telling them. Wasn't sure any of them would understand why Roy was doing this. He barely understood it himself. He just…wanted Hartley to get out. Especially now. Especially with this unknown enemy still lurking around the corner.

"You're…" The kid started laughing. Roy hated the sound of it, but kept his face neutral. "…No you know what. Thank you Roy. Really. I have to say you, out of all the others, had me fooled the best. Bravo." The kid even gave a small, mocking clap.

"You done?"

"With complete accuracy, I can say yes. I am completely done."

"Good. Don't ever contact me again."

"You don't have to worry about that Roy. The next time we see each other, it will be from the other side of a prison cell. I am going to personally dismantle the Rogues."

The kid was gone in an instant. Spinning away from Roy. He was wearing his Pied Piper outfit, the cape moving dramatically in the wind. The lights on his gauntlets illuminating the boy's profile. There was a hardness to his jaw, to his eyes. A conviction in what he must now believe his new mission to be.

Destroy the Rogues.

Destroy the people who had betrayed him. Who had made him believe he could find a family. And then had taken it all away from him.

Roy rubbed his eyes once he was certain Hartley had truly left.

"What was all that then?"

Roy nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Jesus Digger. How long have you been there?"

He hadn't even realized the man was only a few feet from him.

"Long enough to hear all that bollocks. What was that? Telling Hart you and he weren't mates."

"It's…complicated."

"What? So he's pissed off that Lisa threatened to kill him? Kicked him out? Hell I've been threatened by every single person on this team, don't see me being a whiner about it."

"What are you doing here Digger?"

"Followed you didn't I? Not very hard to do either, we need to work on your evasion tactics."

"Digger…"

"Saw you get your little text message. Figured it had to be Hartley. Figured you were going to try and convince him to come back to the Rogues. Instead you send him off like last nights leftovers that stayed on too long."

Roy didn't want to explain it to Digger.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Nah, I suppose I wouldn't. You artists all think in funny ways. Get caught up in your heads. Time to get back. Someone's bound to notice us missing before too long."

Roy nodded and followed Digger back to the car. Digger reached out a hand, it took Roy a second to realize what the man wanted.

He handed over the cell phone.

Digger didn't break it or throw it away. Instead he typed in a set of numbers.

"Special program on this bad boy. It gets hacked, it uploads a virus and a Trojan Horse to whoever did it. It'll send us all their tracking data and whatever other information can be transmitted. Also sends out a false gps signal, so they won't be able to locate you with it. It's why I only ever called you from a pay phone on it. Soon as someone used something other than that to contact you, the virus went out."

"You knew someone would try to find me using it."

"Well yea. If you're on the run you always want to dump a cell phone. Easiest way to track someone. Just didn't figure it would be Hart that done it. Still. Will give us updates on what he's doing."

Digger didn't say anything the entire ride back. Which must have been some kind of record.

Mick was waiting for them at the entrance to the tunnel.

"Where'd you go?"

"Just went for a little jaunt. Stretching our legs a bit. Innit that right Roy?"

"Yea."

Mick didn't look convinced, but let it slide.

"Axel thinks he's got something. He released the photos of the guys who attacked us and his followers have been sending him pictures if they've seen them. Looks like most of them have been spotted in Metropolis."

"Cadmus headquarters there?"

"Nah, that's just it. They don't even got any subsidiaries out there."

"Well, this just keeps getting more and more fun don't it?"

Digger headed back inside. Mick gave Roy a look then headed inside as well.

Roy took a deep breath. Enjoying the momentary solitude.

Roy couldn't help but think about what Mark had said the other day. About a storm coming and the Rogues being in the middle of it. He wondered if they were still waiting for that storm. Waiting for the destruction that was no doubt headed their way.

Or if they were already in the eye and just didn't realize it.

 

* * *

 

 When Axel had been young, he had been invisible.

Not literally of course. No one even knew that metahumans were a thing back then.

He had really like that Invisible Man show that was always playing reruns when he got home from school. Though the premise kind of sucked when he thought about it. The dude had been a thief and he got super cool powers and then he decided to use them for good? Like what the hell man? You could steal anything and instead you're helping stop assassins and shit?

Freaking crazy.

Axel still watched it sometimes. The graphics made him laugh. Plus it was like that early 2000s vibe where literally no one knew what computers were capable of so they could do basically anything. Axel had been a little disappointed when he used his first computer at school and he couldn't automatically hack into the Pentagon. Damn dial up.

He hadn't minded being invisible at first.

Was a lot easier than dealing with his mom. If she had no idea he was there, then she wasn't likely to make him do anything. He didn't have to run an errand for an uncle he had never met before and would never see again. Or she wouldn't make him go play outside for a bit, locking him out of the house until she did whatever.

Wasn't so bad most of the time. He always wore extra layers when his mom ordered him out of the house after that one time she forgot to unlock it and it started snowing.

School had been the same. He couldn't pay attention, couldn't focus. So they sent him to a special classroom, where he was basically forgotten about. The other kids didn't pay him much attention, unless it was to push him around a bit.

Boo hoo.

God this sounded so cliché. He was going to have to fix this up a bit. Someday, some awesome historian is going to get the privilege of writing up Axel Walker's life history. And what, that dude's going to see a file that looks like some sort of after school special?

No way was that going to happen. Let's see.

His mom was...a circus performer! Yep. That's it. She was...an acrobat. A world class trapeze artist! She performed death defying stunts every night for hundreds of people. They flocked to see her. She could have made it big, could have been performing in London and Paris. But she chose to stay in Central because of Axel.

Because she wanted her baby boy to grow up surrounded by family and friends.

Why the hell did Ross and Rachel get back together at the end of Friends? That always bothered him. I mean, not like, the ending of How I Met Your Mother, levels of rage, but like it still makes no sense. What just because they had a kid? That's no reason to force a relationship that clearly wasn't going to work out.

A bear escaped! One of the circus bears escaped one night and starting attacking the patrons of the big top. His mother swung down from the rafters, her cape and sequins shining in the spotlights. She fought it off with her bare hands.

Heh. Bare hands. God he was so good.

She managed to subdue the creature, but she suffered terrible injuries. Axel rushed out to his mother, she was coughing up blood, but still she managed to reach out to him. Grasping at his face.

"You're...cough...hack..." Blood literally everywhere. Like Quentin Tarantino levels of blood. Dead Alive levels of blood. "You're going to...show the world..."

She died before she got the sentence out. But he knew what she was going to say. He was going to show the world exactly what he was capable of. Going to show the world who great he truly was.

Yea. That's better. He could mock up a fake newspaper article later. All he's got to do is get people to think the story could potentially be true and they will believe it.

Especially now that it's in his file in the FBI database. Boom. Done-zo.

Mauled to death by a circus bear while saving dozens of lives is a better way to go out than choking to death on your own vomit and being found two days later by some rando looking to score.

He was doing her a favor really. His mom would come out a hero when his memoirs were written.

His dad…

He remembers that first letter.

Addressed to Axel Walker. Not his mom, not Resident, not Susan James the lady that used to live in the apartment they were living in and whose mail they got all the time. Guess the post office doesn't know where to forward your stuff when you just run out on your boyfriend then he hangs himself in the bathroom.

She got the best magazines though. Guns and Ammo. Highlights. Cat Fancy. High Times. Susan James' had had some pretty varying interests. He should track her down. See what she was up to. Like, it was weird he had never done that before right? I mean the lady had lived in his apartment before him, she could fill him in on if the place had been haunted before she had moved out. I mean, there could have been loads of people who died there.

His name written in bold letters. He had never seen handwriting like that before.

He must have read that first letter a thousand times over the years. Still had it. He should burn it. Or fold it up into an origami middle finger and drop it into Jesses' cage.

He had gotten so used to being invisible, he had blindly followed the first person that claimed to notice him. To see who he could truly be.

Years he followed Jesses' instructions. Reading all the books Jesse told him to read. Learning all the skills Jesse told him to learn.

He remembered the first bomb he ever made. How proud of it he had been. Had pissed him off when Jesse told him he couldn't set it off at his school. Couldn't risk him getting caught so soon.

Like he would have gotten caught.

Please.

There were dozens of kids he could have pinned that on. Kids who weren't invisible. Kids who wrote angry poetry and sprayed graffiti on the bathroom walls. Axel Walker was a nobody. He wouldn't have the courage to do something like that they would have said.

After Jesses' letters, after realizing exactly how great he could be, Axel didn't want to be invisible any more. He wanted the whole world to know his name. When Jesse had given him the keys to the kingdom, Axel couldn't even describe the feeling.

Of course he had to change the costume up a bit. Couldn't run around in spandex, no matter how fashionable it might have been in the 90s. He's seen the old photos. It wasn't that fashionable then. But still, he had taken everything he had learned over the years and finally the world got to see him.

He had millions of Twitter followers now.

Millions of people who saw his genius.

And there were the Rogues too of course.

They were alright. A few were a little slow on the uptake but not bad. I mean, they obviously weren't on his level of fame, but that could be fixed. With his help, the Rogues would be known all over the world. They would be trending every day!

The criminals that defeated the Flash time and time again. Who brought down the evil clone factory known as Cadmus. Something the good guys hadn't even been able to do. The whole world would talk about them. Talk about how sweet they looked in their costumes and how amazing it was that they made all these cool weapons. I mean the meta members were basically cheating. They didn't have to come up with new ideas all the time.

There was just one little thing that still bothered him. One little problem. But that was going to be fixed before too long. Maybe another couple months, like max. Then everything would be totally good. Everything would be exactly how it should be.

He had made a promise to Jesse after all.

It was a couple months back. Back before all the sweet sci-fi clones and freaky dead but not really dead Snart stuff.

He had only been with the Rogues a couple of months. Mick was still glaring at him every time he ducked out of the safe house. Like most of the time he was just running out to get some paint or something but the dude watched him like a freaking hawk. Kept waiting for Axel to betray them. Like ok, he gets it. It was only a few weeks ago they were trying to kill each other. But seriously? How long were they going to hold on to that? I mean, let it go people. He wasn't holding onto any bad blood and he was the youngest one. They were supposed to be the mature old people in this sitch.

It was probably just paranoia. Thinking Mick knew something. Dude couldn't have noticed, Axel was always so careful about planning it all out. Making sure none of them were around when he made his plans to go see Jesse. He had hacked literally every camera in and around Iron Heights. Sneaking in had been ridiculously easy. They really needed better security. He should leave them a nice note about that.

"Well well well. The prodigal son returns. What happened? The Rogues kick you out already? Here I thought you would have lasted a little longer, but then you always were an overeager boy. And Leonard doesn't strike me as the type to suffer fools so easily."

Axel ignored Jesses' taunts. He came here for a single reason. This would be the last time he would ever look this old freak in the eyes.

Couldn't let him see any of his nervousness. Not that he had anything to be nervous about. Jesse was locked up behind thick glass. Guy didn't have any of his old ass toys on him. His shit could never compare to the stuff Axel was capable of making anyway.

"Looks like they gave you the presidential suite."

Jesses' smile widened.

"Well, after I made a mess of my last cell, they had to get me a new one. Honestly you try to bring a little splash of color to a place and everyone freaks out."

Axel was going to have to assume that the splash of color was somebody's blood.

Axel took a small step forward. Pretending to inspect the glass.

"How thick is this stuff anyway?"

"My dear boy, your attempts at nonchalance are abysmal. Even if I hadn't taught you everything you know, it would be obvious to any halfwit. Now I'm sure you've got some Grand Auto Theft or Pokémons to get back to. So why don't we dispense with this charade. Oh! I know. I'll make a little game of it. Let's see, you didn't come here to kill me. That's obvious. For one, you seem to have repeated your pattern of desperately clinging onto the first person who comes along and provides the much needed validation you so desperately crave. The Rogues have that silly little no kill policy and you are just drooling at the prospect of being able to impress Leonard Snart. I'll admit, he's a handsome man, with those piercing blue eyes and deep voice. But true genius doesn't need a pretty face. Although, it did help me a great deal."

Axel rolled his eyes.

"I'm…"

"So you aren't here to kill me, and you aren't here to free me. And you don't look like you're about to come crawling on your hands and knees begging for me to take you back under my wing…"

"Like I would ever…"

"So…oh. You're here to gloat about something. Let me guess, the Rogues pulled off some daring heist and now you want to show me how you don't need me anymore. How you have found a new little dysfunctional family. How utterly boring and predictable. I can't believe I thought you could actually carry the mantle of the Trickster."

"You're right. I am here to gloat."

Axel couldn't believe he had once thought this man was his father. Had changed everything in his life to please him. He was just a creepy old dude in a baggy prison jumpsuit.

Axel reached into his pocket and pulled out the package he had brought with him.

He held it up to the glass.

"Another one of your toys? Dear boy there is nothing you can create that…"

"Oh no. You got it all wrong old man. I didn't create this."

Jesse took a few steps forward. Finally seeing what Axel was holding up to the glass.

The Trickster action figure.

All the Rogues had action figures of them. Real life-like stuff too. Not just weird knockoffs where people painted on Barbie dolls or something. Legit action figures with accessories and everything. Some were clearly better than others. I mean Shawna's and Roy's powers don't really lend themselves to being immortalized. Roy's just had like an extra pair of shades and Shawna's had a bag of cash.

Laaaame.

Still. It was pretty cool they all had one. Even if they didn't get any residuals from it. Though Snart had made up for that by having the Rogues steal a couple hundred K from the toy company. As much money as the company was making, Roy doubted they even noticed.

Axel's had come out last week.

And it was awesome.

His hair was particularly on point.

"Might be hard for you to see so I'll read it to you." Axel cleared his throat. "The newest member of the Rogues, and the youngest, Axel Walker is known for his flamboyant clothing and use of seemingly innocent children's toys as weapons. The Trickster is not a metahuman but his cunning and deceptive tactics still make him a very dangerous adversary for the Flash. This toy comes with a teddy bear bomb accessory."

Even the box was cool. Decked out in vibrant colors and sweet patterns. He was going to have to figure out who designed this thing and send them an awesome present.

Maybe even something that didn't explode.

"Should I be impressed? Some poor child in China worked their fingers to the bone to make a shitty toy version of you. A toy that will be tossed out by next Christmas, when the next shiny thing comes along. Your generation has such a short term memory when it comes to fame. You know your pathological need for attention is really quite easy to exploit."

"You're right. I like attention. Crave it even. But you still don't get it do you. Here, I'll point it out for you. You see that little Roman numeral one? Right after the word Trickster? It means, the first version of the action figure but..."

"Elementary school children are notorious for their love of homicidal maniacs. I'm sure those will be flying off the shelves."

"I'm not a murderer. I'm a Rogue."

"Tomayto, Tomato."

Axel smiled. He pointed at himself then at Jesse.

"More like, Trickster 1, and Trickster 2."

Jesses' face darkened.

"You think some action figure proves that you're the real Trickster? You're nothing without me. You owe everything you are to me. I made you."

"You're right. I wouldn't have any of my gadgets, would never have even considered learning how to build weapons if it wasn't for you…but they don't know that. The people. Sure they might vaguely remember you, might say 'Hey wasn't he that guy that tried to kill all those people like forever ago? What did he go by again? The Jokester? Clown Guy? Ridiculous Freak show in Spandex?' You can pop in every couple months, try to prove to the world you're still relevant. But it won't matter. Because I'm going to be out there everyday. Tweeting to my fans, sharing videos of heists. When people see the name Trickster! Their first thought will be Axel Walker. And even if you come back, they'll think that you are copying me."

Axel stepped away from the glass just as Jesse slammed his fist into it.

"It won't work. I'm the Trickster! Me! They still fear…"

"Like you said old man, my generation has such a short term memory. I am going to make it so that everyone forgets about you, it will be like you never existed at all. It will be my greatest trick."

Axel didn't look back. He could hear Jesse still banging on the cell walls. Axel made it out of the prison. He was super surprised to see Mick leaning against the stolen car he had driven here. Figured he was in for an interrogation.

Mick just opened the door and then drove them back to the safe house. Nobody ever mentioned his little trip. Although he figured out later that Hartley had piggybacked on his feed and been able to see the whole thing. Cold had probably made him do it. Wanting to see if Axel was going to free Jesse or turn on them or whatever.

And now. It was finally happening. He had gotten two million new followers in the last hour. He was breaking all kinds of viewing records. There wasn't going to be a person on the face of the earth who didn't know who he was before the day was over.

Ok, like maybe the people who didn't have internet or tvs wouldn't know but that's like, what, 20 people still living in the Amazon or some shit? And since he was such a kind and generous person, he was even letting the rest of the Rogues share in his spotlight. He retweeted a bunch of infographics some fans had made about the Rogues and their respective powers. Updated now with Cold's metahuman abilities. He plastered their faces all over his feed.

Screw Jesse.

Maybe Axel did have an obsessive need for the world to see him. To see the true extent of his genius. But so what?

Everybody wants to be appreciated. Everybody wants people to see them for who they truly are.

Where was the harm in that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a little trouble getting Axel to focus, but eventually we got there. The ending of the story decided to change on me halfway through writing this chapter so I need to rewrite some stuff. Hope everyone is still enjoying it, there should be one, maybe two more chapters to go.


	9. Chapter 9

There was something oddly impersonal about Metropolis. The entire city felt like it existed simply because it was deemed appropriate there be a large city here. It wasn't New York City or San Francisco. It didn't have that same sense of character or history. It wasn't known for it's great theater, it's fashion, or any other definable characteristics. It's greatest claim to fame was somehow becoming a large American city known throughout the world. In spite of that fact that there wasn't anything particularly interesting it.

It had all prerequisites to become great. The skyscrapers. The museums. The financial districts. The small pockets of ethnic neighborhoods. But there was still something missing. Something that would cause the city to stand out from all the others.

Roy had been to Metropolis a dozen times over the years and to this day he can't think of a single thing that stands out to him. It is at its most basic, and ultimately its most complex, just another city.

So Roy couldn't understand why this place had such a reputation. People were always going on and on about how great the city was.

Sitting in a dive bar on the west end of Metropolis, Roy couldn't say he understood those rumors. He had never heard of any great galleries here. No real artistic section of the city that he could remember. No up and coming artists, redefining the way art was perceived by mainstream audiences. Roy turned to Mark, drinking what had to be his fifth beer since they had been told by the Snarts to wait and meet a contact.

"You ever been to Metropolis before?"

"Once or twice. I think I knocked over a bank here a couple years back. Don't really remember much about it."

Perhaps Roy's unease came from that. From the fact that none of the Rogues were particularly familiar with Metropolis. Even Cold, with his ridiculous memory, had been hard pressed to remember anything that might point to a dark underbelly of the city.

There were of course the standard mob families, crooks, and thieves here. Snart and the others had gone to make contact with a few of the families. Just to let them know the Rogues had no intention of staking claim to their city. They just wanted to get their information, then be on their way.

Roy sighed into his beer. Since they had arrived a few days ago, they had been hiding out in an abandoned mansion in the northern part of the city. The owner had died a few years back and his kids had spent the last few years in legal battles trying to contest the will.

Apparently the old man had left his house to the dog.

No one was currently living there as a result and made the perfect place to hide out.

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing, just tired of all this..." Roy waved his hand around a bit. Espionage had never been his thing. He missed the earlier days of the Rogues. Not when they were at each others' throats of course. But when they spent their time planning heists and stealing from banks. And their downtime painting or simply paying poker. Not being part of an international conspiracy.

Not traipsing across the country for clues to some hidden enemy.

"Hm. Get the feeling this might be the new normal for us Roy."

"I was afraid you might say that."

"You could always leave."

Roy turned sharply towards Mark. Since Hartley's departure Mark had made several comments about Roy leaving the Rogues. Most of them had been jokes of course. But now...Mark almost sounded sincere.

Roy was slightly insulted.

"I'm not going to leave the Rogues."

"Hell I know that. Don't think any of us could make it on our own any more. Just...don't think things are going to slow down for us. And when they do, it'll probably be because we're locked up or dead. Going up against a hell of a thing this time. Assholes we can't even see. Don't even know who we are supposed to be fighting. Just know we have to. Hartley left. Just figured maybe you or Shawna or Axel might give it a chance."

"But not you, Digger, Mick or the Snarts?"

"Ain't the same for us. We don't got anything else. Plus...you and them...it just ain't the same as the rest of us."

Mark definitely needed to stop drinking if they were going to meet this contact soon.

Roy didn't know why Mark thought that he, Shawna, or Axel were any different from the rest of the Rogues. They'd all killed people...actually. Roy wasn't entirely sure that Axel had ever killed anyone. Or Shawna now that he thought about it. Maimed and crippled maybe. But killed?

Not that it mattered. Whether or not they had killed, Roy was certain they would if it meant protecting the others.

Which was all that really mattered in the end.

"I don't think there's any going back for any of us at this point Mark."

Mark gave a sad smile.

"No I don't figure there is."

Roy could understand Mark's reticence. The man had spent a great deal of time distancing himself from the rest of them. Trying to stay separate. Trying to ignore the bond that had been building between them from the beginning. The death of his brother prompting him to be wary of ever letting anyone close again.

But it was too late now. The Rogues were family.

The only thing that would stop the Rogues now, was death.

And that was terrifying when it came right down to it.

They knew now what it was like. For one of them to be lost. To feel the pain of losing a member of your family. Had seen how it had splintered and pulled at each of them. They had gotten lucky this time. Snart's resurrection was not something that would ever be repeated. The next time...the next time a Rogue died there would be no coming back.

There would be a fracture. A tear in the things that made them who they were.

But they would continue on. Even after their enemies had been defeated. Even after this crisis and the next and the next. The Rogues would keep fighting.

"Me and Shawna slept together a few times. In the beginning."

Roy turns away from his musings and his beer, and looks at Mark. Mark is rolling his beer bottle around on the table.

"And you wanted to tell me this because…"

"Thought you should know. Was only a couple times. Couple drunken nights back in the beginning. Didn't mean anything."

"Why would I care about you and Shawna sleeping together two years ago?"

"Almost three now. Just wanted to make you aware."

Roy turned back towards his drink. No idea what prompted this little personal reveal.

"You don't have to tell me about every girl you sleep."

Mark just smirks into his beer. He's giving Roy a look, like he knows something Roy doesn't.

"Got it."

Roy's about to ask Mardon what he was getting at, when their contact enters.

A shady looking fellow. Squat, in an ill-fitting suit. The man is sweating profusely as well. Roy wonders if the man could have ever been anything besides a criminal. Roy has a hard time picturing the man as a lawyer or a doctor. If the man had walked in wearing a lab coat Roy would have still assumed he was a criminal. Some people are just born with a face that screams untrustworthy.

He spots the Rogues sitting at the bar. It almost looks like he is going to turn around and run back out the door. But he seems to swallow his fear and walks over to them quickly. As if they didn't just see his little dance of cowardice. Apparently his fear of them was outweighed by…

"You got my money?"

Roy almost rolls his eyes at how cliché this all is.

Mardon seems to find it all quite hilarious. He idly begins to form some clouds around his fingers.

"Depends on what you brought us."

The sweat is rolling down the man's forehead now. Small stains around the collar of his shirt. His eyes continually glance back towards the door. It would appear that he is rethinking every decision he has ever made. Asking himself how his life had lead him to this moment. Roy would find this all hilarious if they weren't on a bit of a schedule. Didn't want the cops or Cadmus to know they were in the city if they could avoid it.

Roy removes his shades. Since most people seem to know how his powers work now, they react to it the same way one does when you produce a gun. The informant takes a step back and puts his hands up. Roy sighs, already bored with all of this.

"The information?"

The man reaches into his jacket and pulls out a manila envelope. He can see the man's hands shaking. Roy really hopes that the envelope isn't damp from the man's sweat. He takes it with two fingers.

The informant swallows and gains his voice.

"It's all there. Cadmus has got some kinda thing going at this place just outside of Metropolis. Couldn't barely find any information about it. Took days to get it. And more effort than..."

"I'm sure that you worked very hard."

Roy pulls the papers out of the envelope and gives them a quick glance. It looks like there is some kind of underground bunker underneath a subdivision outside of Metropolis. Must be where all the clones are coming from and where the main headquarters are. If they can get down there. They can end this.

Roy nods at the contact.

"The money will..."

"I want double."

Roy actually stops at that. He just stares at the man. Mark on the other hand starts laughing.

"Double. Are you shitting me?"

"I told you, this information was hard to come by. I don't even know how many laws were broken to get it and the kind of people that I had to hire to find it don't come cheap. They want more money and I need to get out of the country real quick. So..."

Roy turns and shares a glance with Mardon. Lisa had said to play nice with the contact as he was apparently very well known throughout the criminal underworld. Had a way of finding information no one else could. The Snarts had used him many times over the years.

He didn't suppose letting Mardon hit the man with a bolt of lightening would be considered "playing nice."

Roy sighs and puts his shades back on.

"You will be paid what was agreed. If you have a problem with that you can take it up with Snart."

Roy and Mardon stand up and start to walk away. The contact is sputtering behind them. Though he makes no effort to stop them. Mardon throws a grin over his shoulder.

"I'd rethink asking Cold for extra money, might get a…chilly reception."

Roy smiles in spite of himself. They were all so ridiculous about the puns sometimes.

They get back to the mansion and start looking over what the man had given them.

It wasn't much. There was no marking of where the entrance was, or the security they might find. It was little more than the general outline of the bunker and that it was located underneath roughly a dozen homes in the Evergreen Acres subdivision about five miles outside of Metropolis.

The entrance could be nowhere near the subdivision. It could be an access tunnel miles away for all they knew.

It doesn't take long for the others to arrive. Apparently the crime families of Metropolis wanted nothing to do with whatever the Rogues were up to. As long as it didn't bring and cops down on their heads, they would look the other way.

"That contact dude was a real piece of work. Can't believe you guys do business with that worm."

Lisa raised an eyebrow at Mark's words.

"Who? Jimmy? The man's a professional. Len and I have used him for years…"

"Guy was sweating up a storm and actually asked for double after he gave us the information."

"That's not like Jimmy. He knows how business is run. He doesn't ever do anything that might make waves."

"Well the guy was scared shitless. I was thinking it was because of us…"

"But it might be because of the information he found on Cadmus…Hmmm. Looks like I will have to send him a fruit basket as an apology. We will deal with that later. Axel…"

Axel pulls up aerial maps of the subdivision. Even finding some historical photos of when it was built.

"Place got built about...ten years ago. Can't find anything linking it to Cadmus, or anything showing that there's a sweet underground bunker down there. But..."

"But we've seen how good these people are. And we only have a few photos to go off of."

So far there was nothing that indicated anything was amiss. Nothing in the construction permits or any of the photos.

"Security cameras?"

"There's a couple of traffic cams in the subdivision. Looks like the local homeowners put them up to deal with some speeding teenagers a couple years back. There's one near a park too, and there's a few small businesses towards the entrance that have them inside. I've tapped into all of them. So far it's just people going about their boring little lives. I have literally watched this one dude get older as he just chills on this park bench and feeds some pigeons. Look at the way they just swarm around him. It's really addicting actually."

Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Alright. We will go in quietly. Take a look around. Axel, you will stay in the van and watch for any signs of any of the clones. Has the facial recognition..."

"Nothing so far. If these dudes are underground we might not ever see the ones we are looking for. Can't pinpoint where the entrance is yet. Which is why you guys will take these."

Axel hands them all some mp3 players. Shawna twirls one of the devices in her hand.

"So we can drown out the sound of suburban despair and not kill ourselves?"

"No. They're GPR, you know ground penetrating radar? You're each going to leave them on the ground in strategic locations so that we can shoot beams down into the ground. It will allow us to get a look at the bunker and find the entrance."

"What if someone steals one of these from wherever we leave them?"

"What? Why would someone do that? They aren't even iPods. They're like...Zunes. Nobody wants a Zune. Trust me, a bunch of middle class white kids from the burbs wouldn't be caught dead with one of these. They're from way back. Like 2008."

Roy rolled his eyes. But assumed that it was too late to get Axel to disguise them to look like something else.

"Fine, we will go with this then. Mick and I will head here towards where we think the northern part of the bunker will be. Digger you and Mardon will head for the park, should be right in the middle of it. Shawna, you and Roy will go here. We will have two GPRs per group, so make sure to spread them out just a bit, in case the information we have is off. Axel, how long do you need to get an image?"

"Just a couple minutes. You guys can just stand there too. Then we can pick them up and bring them back here to my loving arms."

Mick looked like he was going to crush the one in his hand.

"I thought you said they were garbage."

"They are garbage. But they're my garbage. Plus I think they're hilarious. Look how bulky it is. And the screen! I mean..."

"Axel. Save your adoration for antiquated technology for another time."

"What about me sis?"

"You're the most recognizable Lenny. If we are playing this smart then you should stay out of sight. Plus I don't want you in the action if something goes wrong. We might need the added surprise of your powers to get us out should it go sideways. Axel is going to drop you off at the dry cleaners, closest to the entrance of the subdivision. It will be closed on Sunday so you shouldn't have a problem. Their blueprints show a pipe leading to the sewer line, could be our secret way in. I want you to check that building and the closed mattress store in that same section. If the entrance to the bunker is in this area, my money is it being in there somewhere. Once you've scoped them out, meet up with Roy and Shawna."

"You got it boss."

Lisa smirked at that.

"Alright. This is reconnaissance only. You get spotted by someone, or you think you've been spotted, I want you out of there. We can't have the cops getting called, it would raise too many questions. Everyone is to keep their heads down and their faces covered as much as possible. Don't do anything to draw attention to yourselves."

Axel gives a full salute.

"Yes ma'am."

They wait until Sunday to head out. Early in the morning, when all the good people would be in church. Less people to have to keep an eye out for. Over the years they had all had to wear disguises to blend in. Usually it was when they were scoping out a potential target.

He had to admit it was strange to see Digger in jeans and a blazer. There was something about normalcy that looked so out of place on him. He was certain that someone would take one look at Digger and know he didn't belong in clothes like that. Mark was wearing something similar. The wrongness of it wasn't as prevalent as it was on Digger, but it still looked strange.

Lisa had told them they would pretend to be a couple checking out the neighborhood before they bought a house, if anyone asked. The entire point of this was that no one was supposed to be notice, but Lisa still insisted they have backstories.

Which is why Lisa and Mick were wearing running gear. They looked like just two people going out for a morning jog. Lisa even had a story about how Mick used to weigh 400 pounds and she was his personal trainer and life coach. Mick had just grunted at that, seemingly unbothered by Lisa's insistence on the bright pink workout shirt he was wearing.

Roy and Shawna were both decked out in what Lisa had called their 'morning after' clothes. Dressed like two irresponsible people who had spent too much time drinking the night before and were now paying for it. She said it would help to explain why they were both wearing hoodies, hats, and shades. Roy's were his regular shades, but Shawna's glasses were tapped into the security cameras so she could jump to anywhere instantly if they had to leave quick.

Snart was in his regular black since he was to remain hidden.

Axel…

Axel had decided that he wanted to play a part as well.

To be honest, Roy found the boy's outfit the most disturbing.

It was…a button up dress shirt, a pair of pressed slacks. And a sweater vest.

He was also insisting they all call him Kyle. So as to help him "find his character."

Mark and Axel were arguing over the headsets about it.

"You know you aren't getting out of the van right? That this is completely pointless."

"Of course I do, boy howdy. I mean gee wilikers, I sure don't want any trouble."

"This isn't the Andy Griffith Show."

"You're right. That voice is all wrong. Kyle wouldn't say gee wilikers." Axel paused and Roy could hear him crossing something off of a piece of paper. "What is more normal, liking baseball or football? I feel like Kyle would like lacrosse. But that might be too extreme."

Roy ignored the chatter in his ear and continued walking down the street with Shawna. They were both moving slowly, large cups of coffee in their hands.

They headed towards the designated spot. Roy checks around them, no one is looking in their direction and the street is mostly clear. The houses he can see don't appear to have anyone watching from the windows. But Roy figured there was bound to be some little old lady with nothing else to do sitting in one of the windows.

Lisa had said they could pretend they were throwing up in the bushes to hide planting the GPR. Roy decides to fake tying his shoe instead.

Roy bends down and puts the GPR on the ground and presses the button on the side. The small screen flashes for a moment, then goes black again. Though he can hear a small whirring sound as it powers up. Shawna comes up behind him from where she had just placed hers.

"How many times do you think she has cheated on her husband?"

Roy turns his head away from the GPR at Shawna's question. There was a woman powerwalking down the sidewalk across the street.

"What makes you think she's cheated?"

"Dude. Come on. She's powerwalking, even though she's already got a sweet bod. Which means she just wants all the dudes here to see her in all her spandex glory. And it's like 50 degrees out, she should have a jacket on or something. Plus she lives in this suburban nightmare. She is definitely cheating on her husband. Probably the only way she can stay sane."

"We're here to get readings not people watch."

"Didn't say we couldn't do both. Come on Roy, Axel said it would take a few minutes. Might as well make the most of it."

Roy sighed but sat down on the bench beside her. What kind of suburb just had benches all over the place? Roy found this whole place to be very odd. Shawna looped her arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder.

They had to make it look like they were just another couple, taking a break from walking a few blocks back to where they lived. That the very task of walking was almost insurmountable at this point.

"You ever think you could have ended up somewhere like this?"

"No."

"Awfully certain."

"I would have hung myself after one day of it."

Shawna smacks him on the shoulder.

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

She looks back towards the street. Aside from the woman walking away, there was no one else out there but them.

"Clay would talk about it sometimes. Getting a house in the country. Of course, he was always thinking mansion. With a full basketball court and at least two swimming pools."

"Two?"

"One inside and one outside."

"Of course. Clearly we have been spending our money wrong."

"Clay was like that. Always thinking about what he was going to do with money, once we finally hit that big score."

"And you didn't?"

"I don't know. When I thought of the future, of having money like we talked about, it never seemed to involve anything like this. I could never see a house or a white picket fence. Even when I was in nursing school and some of the others talked about the how they were going to snag one of the doctors so they wouldn't have to work again. I didn't understand it. Staying in one place forever? Never working, I get that, but doing nothing but cleaning the house and going to Community Watch meetings? I'd go crazy I think."

"Of course you would."

"You don't think I could have made it as a housewife?" Shawna's voice is full of mock offense. She even puts a hand dramatically over her heart.

"You would make a terrible housewife."

"What makes you say that? I've taken care of you idiots enough times when you get hurt. Making sure Digger doesn't choke on his own vomit is basically a full time job."

There's a man coming up the street, walking a small dog. Roy is distracted momentarily, keeping an eye on the man. Making sure the man doesn't look over at them. Roy follows the man with his eyes, responding to Shawna without really thinking about it.

"You would stand out here. People would know you didn't belong. The same way people know the Mona Lisa doesn't belong hanging in someone's garage."

The man passes by. He didn't once look in their direction, but for some reason Roy's eyes continue to follow him. He's barely registering that Shawna is staring at him oddly.

"That might be the sweetest thing any one has ever said to me Roy."

Roy is about to turn back to her, when the man with the dog turns the corner. And something in his face triggers a memory in Roy.

That can't be right. Roy stands up quickly.

"Roy? What is it?"

Roy taps his earpiece.

"Axel, is there any sign of the clones?"

"Kyle doesn't respond well to that tone. He's very sensitive after…"

"Axel!"

"Geez, alright. Not even a blip bro. Nothing on the facial recognition…"

Shawna was standing at his side. Her eyes scanning all around them, looking for the threat, ready to fight or flee.

"What did you see Roy?"

"That man, the one walking his dog. I swear I have seen him before..."

"Could be a coincidence. All these basic suburb white boys look the same…"

"No…no that's not it."

Roy knew he had seen this guy before. He raked his brain. But he couldn't seem to grasp the right memory, it stayed frustratingly out of reach.

Lisa cut in over the comm.

"Do you need to pull out?"

"That's what she said."

"Axel I swear to god."

"What? I mean come on, we were all thinking it. Look I don't see any clones and we will have all the data in another forty three seconds…"

Roy couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. That he was missing something important. He couldn't explain it really. It was just another thing you got used to, being a criminal. You learned to trust your instincts. Leaned that even if you couldn't see a threat, sometimes you just knew it was there.

Roy is saved from trying to give a reason to blow the entire operation on a hunch, by Cold suddenly speaking.

"We need to get out of here."

"What's wrong Lenny?"

"I checked out the cleaners and the mattress store. There was nothing in either of them, and no sign of any kind of hidden passageways. I got bored after such an easy task, so I slipped into one of the houses nearby. Just taking a little look around. There were two people inside, but they were both dead."

"What, you stumbled onto a murder scene?"

"I don't think so sis. These two had been dead awhile, their bodies were cold. But I recognized one of them. He was one of the homeless people kept in the prison I was thrown in. He had been cleaned up and put in new clothes, but it was definitely him."

"Alright. That's it, I'm calling it. Lenny, meet up with Shawna and Roy. The park is the most central location, everyone meet there. Axel bring the…"

"Think you lot are all going to want to see this."

"Digger?"

"The park. It's…there's something weird going on."

"On our way."

Roy and Shawna headed quickly between the houses, Cold joining them only a minute or so later. They reached the park at about the same time as Lisa and Mick. Digger beckoned them over towards the far fence, still partially hidden by several large pine trees. He points over towards the park.

Dozens of the people were standing around. Except they weren't...doing anything. They were dressed in normal clothes. They were holding newspapers. Some had cell phones up to their ears, their mouths open in silent mimicry of speech.

It looked like a window display. Mannequins imitating real life.

Except Roy could clearly see them breathing.

"This place is like the village of the bloody damned."

"What happened?"

"Don't know. One minute they was all moving around like a bunch of normal blokes. Next second they just stop like this."

There was a man near a large tree to Roy's left. Suddenly, it clicks in Roy's mind.

"That's him. The same man that was walking a dog earlier. Except he was wearing different clothes and he didn't have a beard. I saw another man who looked just like him jogging when we first entered…"

Lisa turns away from the odd scene.

"Axel run that software again, but cross check it only with all the faces of the people in this area."

"Got it. I mean why would…oh. Yea. Um. So. The facial recognition software is showing that like…everybody there is like literally the same as everybody else. I think there's only a handful of distinct people, the rest are…"

"Clones. We were scanning against the ones we had seen. But there were more that were created."

"And what? Cadmus thought they'd just let them all live in a nice little suburb until they need them for murder purposes?"

Mick pulls out his heat gun.

"Why are they standing around like this?"

Cold reaches over and pushes Mick's gun down.

"Keep that out of sight until…"

"Um guys. So I hacked into a couple security cameras and it's like this all over. Must be dozens of them just...and they've stopped moving. I'm not the only one like suuuuuper creeped out by this right?"

"Something isn't right..."

"No shit dude. I'm getting like pod people vibes here."

"Axel. We need to…"

Digger suddenly moves towards the nearest clone.

"Digger get your ass back here."

Digger ignores Cold's call. He punches the clone in the face. It doesn't react. He pulls a boomerang and stabs it in the shoulder. It falls to the ground, but it still doesn't make a noise. And none of the other clones make any effort to stop them. They don't move from their positions.

The other Rogues move slowly out from behind the cover of the trees. Lisa strides over to Digger. The clone he stabbed has stood up and resumed it's position of pretending to talk on it's cell phone.

"Like bloody Qatar all over again."

"What?"

"Job I pulled with ARGUS. Wanted to win favor with the government, convince them they needed our protection. So we staged a massacre. Took a bunch of dead bodies and…the homeless people in the houses. You said they were dead?"

Snart looks like he's beginning to jump onto Digger's line of thought.

"Their bodies were cold so they must have been dead for..."

"They were cold from being dead or dead because they had been frozen?"

Holy shit.

It seems to click with all of them at the same time.

"We're being set up."

None of the clones moved towards the Rogues. But they all turn and look in almost perfect unison. Then the clones change positions. They…they look like they are trying to run away. Except they are all still frozen in place.

Like they were terrified of the Rogues and trying to escape.

Lisa takes a step backwards.

"Axel get your ass over here now. I want…"

"No…"

Snart had been their leader for years now. And Roy had thought he had heard every variation in that man's tone. Anger, pain, sadness. But this…this single whispered word was said with something Roy had never heard in Leonard Snart's voice.

Fear.

Unmitigated terror.

"Lenny?"

There was a chill in the air. Something that Roy had been ignoring. His mind writing it off as just the early morning, as a byproduct of being this far north. But now…Roy could see his breath in front of him. Could feel a bite that started to seep beneath his clothes.

Snart's hand were turning blue, his eyes turning that white shade they had been when he first emerged from the ambulance. Snart started to move away from the Rogues, bringing his hands close to his chest.

Roy could see the frost starting to form on the ground beneath him. Mick and Mardon had to take several steps to avoid it covering their shoes. The frost was moving quickly, covering the ground in brittle white frost. The trees around them also began to turn a frightening shade of white. Their leaves frozen into jagged icicles.

"Lenny!"

"Get back. All of you, get the hell out of here. It's a damn set up. They're going to use me to kill these people…My powers…I can't…"

"We aren't just going to leave you…"

"Lisa…please."

There was a desperation in Snart's voice that scared Roy. They had walked right into a trap. Never once thinking that there was anything they couldn't handle. Nothing they couldn't fight their way out of.

Lisa shared a look with her brother. For a moment, Roy thought she was going to say something. Going to tell her brother they would find a way to stop them. That they weren't going to leave him again.

Then her eyes hardened.

"Shawna…get us out of here."

"Lisa. Are you…?"

"Now Shawna."

Shawna doesn't get the chance to so much as move before a dart embeds itself in her neck.

"Shawna!"

Roy rushes forward and grabs her before she hits the ground. They all look up at the sound of mechanical whirring about them. There are four drones flying above them. Three of them have several visible darts loaded onto their sides.

Mick shoots a stream of flames towards them. But the drones simply dodge the flames and continue to circle the Rogues.

"Mardon!"

Mark goes to knock the drones away with a gust of wind but the drones move too quickly. They start firing more darts. The Rogues are forced to move backwards out of the way. Roy could see that one of the drones wasn't firing, didn't have the same sort of set up as the other three.

It had what looked like a camera attached to it.

Lisa and Mick continued to shoot at the drones to no avail. Roy had never seen machines move as fast as those were. They had even been able to dodge Mardon's lightening strikes.

"We have to get out of here. Axel! Get the van here now!"

"But what about…"

"The drones aren't trying to kill us, they're trying to keep us here so that we die when Len's powers go haywire."

Snart was standing in exactly the same spot. He hadn't moved, his eyes were now closed. He was attempting to keep control, attempting to give them time to escape.

The drones weren't firing at him. They just continued to circle. Continued to cut off any attempts they could make at escape.

The air was getting cold, Roy's skin felt like it was burning, even from this far away. Snart was clearly losing his battle, whoever gave him his powers must have also put in some way to control them. Someway to trigger them, after he thought he had gained control.

The damn collar was in the van with Axel. They hadn't thought he needed it anymore.

"He's going to freeze the whole damn city."

Roy turned towards Mick's calm words.

Then he glanced back at Snart. They didn't know exactly what Snart was capable of. How cold his powers could get. But Roy was willing to bet he would be able to reach the same temperatures that his cold gun had once produced. Once Snart reached absolute zero, a wave of freezing air would spread quickly. Beyond the confines of this little area. They were only a few miles outside of Metropolis. There was no telling how far the cold would go.

Thousands of people were going to die.

And the Rogues were going to be blamed for it.

Lisa grabbed Mardon by the jacket.

"Mardon! Create a cyclone around the area. Mick turn that thing up as high as it will go. You and Mardon are going to create a wall of fire around Lenny. Whoever this is, wants as much destruction as possible. Digger, you and me are going to distract those drones long enough for them to try and contain Lenny's powers. Roy, once Axel shows up, get Shawna in the van. The rest of us will be right behind."

Roy nodded, keeping his body protectively between Shawna and the car they were currently hiding behind.

As long as Roy had been a Rogue, he had never seen what happened when Mick turned his gun up to full power. He had heard what the heat gun was capable of, of course. Absolute hot. Which Roy had never really understood. But he wasn't much for the science of it all. He couldn't really fathom something that was supposed to be an abstract concept. Theoretical at best.

Mick kept his gun at lower temperatures because he said he didn't want to instantly melt anyone. Wanted to watch them burn if he could.

Roy had never really thought about it. Thought about how hot the gun could get. The highest temperature anything could reach. Hotter than the surface of the sun. Hot enough to melt through steel and bone. Hot enough to vaporize anyone who stood in front of him.

If Mick wanted to, his gun could simply turn anyone into ash in less than a second.

But Mick never turned his gun up that high.

Never even considered doing it. Something about the dangers of such a temperature.

Roy didn't like to consider the idea that there was a flame that even Mick Rory didn't want to unleash.

Digger and Lisa were firing constantly at the drones, keeping them from hitting Mick or Mardon with a dart. They even managed to clip one of them, causing it to almost crash into the van as Axel came around the corner.

The van screeched to a halt only a few feet from Roy.

Roy pulled open the side door and lifted Shawna inside.

Mardon had created a whirlwind, it circled around Snart. Roy couldn't see their leader through it any more. The wind Mardon was creating was pulling in Snart's ice. Mardon kept the cyclone going, and managed to climb into the van as well. His eyes remained focused on the wind, on keeping it around Snart. On not letting anything escape it.

"We need to get our sweet asses out of here. Let's go boss lady!"

Digger ducked into the van next. Lisa stood at the door, while Mick kept his gun pointed towards the rapidly freezing wind in front of him. The cyclone had caused the remaining three drones to retreat to a farther distance, lest they by pulled in by the wind.

But they were still there.

Still watching everything that was happening.

"Get out of here."

"Get in the damn van Mick."

"Lisa, the combination of the absolute hot and absolute zero is going to create a massive explosion. Even I don't know exactly what it will do. You need to get far enough away…"

"If you think I am leaving both of you here…"

"Lisa."

Lisa shared a look with Mick. It felt eerily similar to the one with Cold from earlier. Mick held her gaze.

Lisa looked like she wanted to scream. She turned towards the van, then turned back around quickly and hugged Mick from behind. She whispered something into his ear, but Roy couldn't make out what it was.

She let go of Mick, then jumped into the van and slammed the door closed.

"Drive."

No one said anything. Axel hit the gas and the van started to go 70 mph down the suburban streets. The clones were everywhere. Standing in their strange arrangements. Acting like they were running away but not moving.

If Snart's powers escaped Mick's heat gun, then all of the clones would be frozen like this. Statues.

Roy thought about the drones. About the one with the camera. An entire suburban area frozen in place. It would echo those videos Roy had seen about the people killed when Pompeii exploded. Killed so instantly as to be stuck in their final moments for all eternity. A reminder of how quickly life can be taken away.

And how terrifying it must have been. To see something so unstoppable, so horrible, and know there was nothing you could do to stop it.

You could only watch as the end came rushing towards you.

They had barely made it to the end of the street when a bright light flashed behind them. Roy looked out the window, back towards Mick and Snart.

He could barely see Mick. The light from his gun was swept up in the flames around him. The flames were whirling around, pulled by the cyclone.

It looked like a tornado, sucking fire up into the sky.

Or a snake, wrapping itself up before preparing to strike.

Then the fire seemed to almost dissipate.

It took Roy a moment to realize he couldn't see Mick anymore. That the fire wasn't gone, it had been replaced. Replaced by a blinding light that was now rushing towards them in an explosion of sound and violent fury.

Roy did the only thing he could think of, the only thing he could do in the face of such an unstoppable force. He covered Shawna's body with his own and held on tight.

* * *

Sirens were the sort of thing you got used to after awhile. Not really used to he supposed. More, they didn't inspire the same sort of reaction in a career criminal as they did the average person. One would think that to a criminal, a siren would be an indicator that something had gone wrong. That it was time to panic.

When in reality it was the opposite. You hear a siren, you learn to calm yourself down. If you panic, you will get caught. But if you stay focused on the job, if you follow the plan, then you can still make it out.

The van is on its side. And Roy was somehow outside of it. He was…standing? How did he get out of the van?

The blast from Mick's heat gun and Snart's powers had caused a powerful explosion. Was explosion the right word when ice was involved? He was certain there was some other scientific…

"Move your bloody arse."

Digger was grabbing Roy by the arm and pulling him along. Ah, well that explained that mystery. There were people on the ground all around them. The clones…

"They're all…"

"Dead. Yea. Looks like they all took those cyanide pills when Snart's ice didn't freeze them. We gotta be quick. Stay here and try not to throw up, I'll grab the others out of the van."

Digger lowers Roy to the ground and Roy takes a moment to look at the scene around him. So many of the houses were on fire. And the trees, and the grass. The entire street was warped by the rising heat. It was like one of those scenes from those apocalyptic movies that Mick loved so much.

There was ash falling from the sky. Or was it snow? Maybe it was both somehow.

"Roy!"

"Hm?" Roy pulled his eyes away from the sky. Digger was glaring at him. There was blood running down the mercenary's face. A long jagged cut. Digger should really do something about that. Didn't want it to get infected and scar up.

"Keep an eye on Shawna."

Roy looked over, Shawna was laying on the ground beside him. Digger must have pulled her out of the van first. Roy rolled over slightly and checked her pulse. She was still breathing. Unconscious, but breathing. Roy would take what he could get right now.

Digger stood up from where he had been bending over Roy. Roy turned his attention towards that incessant sound.

"What about the sirens?"

Digger turns and looks towards where Roy is pointing. Roy can almost see the flashing lights now.

"Well bugger me sideways. Alright. Screw it. Guess we're going out swinging." Digger pulls one his boomerangs out of his jacket and stands at the ready.

"Some day perhaps. Not today." Lisa begins to pull herself out of the destroyed side of the van. Digger moves forward and pulls her the rest of the way through.

"Not really any time for a retreat love."

"Mardon? You alive?

Mark comes crawling out of the broken windshield. He looks just as banged up and bloody as the rest of them. He's holding on to his side, Roy can see blood on Mark's shirt. He bends over slightly and start pulling Axel out of the van. The kid is limping, but otherwise appears unhurt.

They congregate around where Roy and Shawna are sitting in the street.

"I'm a little banged up but my powers are still good to go."

"Good, I want fog so thick they can't see two inches in front of their faces. Roy, you take Shawna and Axel and head for the mansion."

Lisa turns towards where they left Mick and Snart. Towards the source of the destruction.

"I'm going to get Lenny and Mick."

"Love…"

Roy can hear a tone of reproach and concern in Digger's voice, not something you usually hear from the mercenary. He's usually the first one to want to jump into whatever insane plan the Rogues have up their sleeves.

"I'm in charge here, remember? We survived, I don't doubt Mick survived as well. No fire is going to take him unless he lets it. Len…we aren't leaving him. A power surge like that has to have drained his powers. Every meta has their limits right?"

Digger doesn't look convinced but seems to realize there isn't much of a point in arguing with a Snart once they've made up their minds. He smiles, somewhat more forced than usual, and gives a slight bow.

"Your wish is my command."

"Good."

The fog starts to form around them. Mardon leaves enough of tunnel for them to be able to see each other, but the effect is still disconcerting. Axel is waving a hand in front of his face. The cops won't be able to reach them in this any time soon. Enough time to get away. To regroup.

To survive another day.

Roy gently picks up Shawna and nods to Lisa.

"Are you sure we should head back to the mansion? Whoever set us up seemed to know every step we were going to make."

"I'm not sure of anything right now, but we don't have a choice. It's the only place in Metropolis I know we can defend if we have to. We are on unfamiliar ground and until we can leave the city, we are going to have to stay there."

Lisa checks her gun.

"Do what you have to. If the house is compromised, let us know. Get away, whatever it takes. Protect each other, no matter what happens. Stay silent as best you can, including any tech they might be able to track back to us. Digger, Mark. Let's go."

Roy watched the three Rogues take two steps and then disappear in to the fog. Axel was standing only a foot or two to Roy's left but it was still difficult to see him.

"So uh, can we like…get going...now-ish?"

Roy raises an eyebrow at Axel's tone. The kid looked slightly defensive.

"What? It's not like I have a fear of fog. Or of suburbs. Or anything that looks exactly like this. And that we are currently living in my nightmare scenario."

"You're afraid of fog?"

"What? I'm not afraid of fog. Shut up. You are. I…just have a healthy respect for it. I mean, literally anything could be hiding two feet from you and you wouldn't know until BAM your face is missing. Don't you know what could be lurking out there?"

"Besides an army of suicidal clones, a faceless evil company, and some unknown asshole hell bent on killing us you mean?"

"Exactly. I swear…if Pyramid Head comes around this corner I am going to lose my shit."

They make their way slowly. Now that Mardon was farther away, the fog got thicker around them. For every step Roy took, he had to reach out a hand and make sure there was nothing in his path.

Which would have been much easier if he wasn't carrying Shawna. Or if Axel had been willing to be in the front. But the boy was steadfastly sticking to Roy's back. His hands clenched in fists in the material of Roy's hoodie.

Eventually, the fog began to lift. Axel pulled out his phone.

"We're about ten miles from the mansion. We should…"

Roy could hear sirens in the distance again.

It was strange. He could swear he couldn't hear them inside of the fog. Which was ridiculous, the sirens would have been closer then. He must have simply been too focused on watching where he was stepping, on not running into any buildings or fences or trees or people.

They make it back to the mansion after a few hours. They had to keep hiding and ducking behind things. It seemed like the whole damn city was looking for them.

Shawna had started to stir before they reached the house and was able to walk almost on her own for the last half hour. She was groggy. And complained about how weak her legs felt, but she had powered on. She had collapsed on the couch once they were safely inside.

They waited for the others.

And waited.

And waited.

It was well past two am and there was still no sign.

Roy sighed and leaned back farther into the couch. How the hell had this all gone so wrong? How could they have not seen that it was all a trap? Who could have planned something out so meticulously?

He's barely able to get a few hours of sleep, and in the morning he's still exhausted. Axel and Shawna look as bad as he does.

"Maybe I should…"

"You hack into anything and they could use it to track us here. You heard was Lisa said, stay silent and stay here until they get back."

"What if they got snatched or something? I mean there were cops everywhere and we don't know if Mick and Snart were even still alive!"

Shawna stepped forward, putting a hand on the young Rogue's shoulder.

"Axel calm down. They'll be here. No cops can take out that many Rogues. And Mark was still at full power. They'll be good."

Roy was certain he wasn't as calm as he was trying to pretend to be. Every hour that passed without the others arriving only enforced Axel's fears.

The others were captured or dead.

It was almost noon when Roy heard the back door open. He grabbed a gun off the table and headed towards it. He kept the gun pointed straight at the door.

He lowered it when Digger poked his head through.

"Jesus. Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry mate, ran into some interference. Help us with this."

"This" is an unconscious Mick Rory.

Digger and Mardon are carrying the large man between them.

They move Mick over to the couch and lay him down. Mick can't help but notice the bandages completely covering Mick's hands. And how they extend halfway up his arms. And around his chest. And his neck. And the left side of his face.

"The heat gun's gone. Damn thing blew up when the force of the two things hit him. He's been drifting in an out. Probably a nasty concussion, some broken bones, his hands…they're a mess. Got bloody burns all over him. More so than he had before. Lucky his whole face isn't melted off."

"Where's Shawna?"

"Upstairs. Trying to get some sleep."

Digger nods and leaves the room. Shawna will have to look over Mick. But if the burns are as bad as they say, they need to get him professional help. A real doctor. A real burn unit.

Roy stands silently for a moment. Looking at Mick laying completely still. The man hadn't so much as muttered as he was jostled around.

"Where are the Snarts?"

"Outside. Lisa's trying to convince her brother to come in. His powers haven't shown themselves at all since the blow up, he maxed them out completely. Be a few days before he can use them again. Lisa's got the collar back on him, but he's worried it won't be enough."

"Any idea what triggered him?"

"Lisa's thinking they put something in him, nanites or some shit. Maybe they just did a time release or there was something in the suburb that triggered it, some kind of gas or something. He doesn't want to risk it happening again."

"What do you mean?"

"Asshole was almost ready to give himself up to the cops. Just so they could put him in one of their anti-meta cells. He was out of it when we found him, he didn't see the place. How destroyed it was. Didn't see the damage or all the bodies. The cops….They wouldn't lock him up for this Roy. They'd execute him."

Roy tried not to think about that. Tried not to think about how screwed they were.

"They're going to crucify us for this."

"And we didn't even do it."

Roy supposed he could see the irony in that. Of all the crimes they had committed, all the terrible things they had done over the years, it was going to be a massacre they had nothing to do with that finally did them in. That finally ended the Rogues.

"There won't be anywhere we can go. This…this shit is going to get real bad real fast. Forget BOLOs, and task forces, and arresting us. We're going to have every single ordinary asshole with a gun out there looking for us. They're gonna call us terrorists and they're going to shoot us on sight. Even from where we had to hide out along the way, we could hear the people screaming for blood. And not just for the Rogues, man. For all metahumans."

Roy doubts even the Flash will be able to escape the repercussions of this. That any metahuman out there would be able to avoid what was about to happen.

There was going to be nowhere they could hide. Nowhere they would ever be safe again.

This wasn't going to blow over. People wouldn't forget this, wouldn't forget the images of the bodies frozen in fear. Of them lying dead on the street as their homes burned around them.

The drone with the video cameras, the footage from the traffic cams, the news would play it all on a constant loop. Over and over until it was embedded in their minds. Until it was all anyone saw when someone mentioned the Rogues.

There would be no point to having trials if they were caught.

No one would ever believe they were innocent.


	10. Chapter 10

News anchor Jonathan Smart sits behind the news desk. His news desk. His hair is perfectly combed, his tie perfectly straight. For nearly ten years he has been reporting the news. He's broken dozens of high profile stories. Stories that should have won him journalism awards. But every year he was passed over. It was politics, all about who you knew rather than who was truly the best.

Then the news started coming in from Metropolis and he knew. Now was finally his moment. His chance to show everyone that he was the best damn anchor this side of the Mississippi.

He turns to the camera as the red light signals that they are live. He keeps his face calm, and controlled. Emotions are for less experienced reporters.

"Good evening and welcome to WXAN's Breaking News at 10. Ladies and Gentleman, we begin to night with our top story. The Rogues, a collection of metahumans and non-metahuman criminals, have been a common fixture here in Central City for the past few years. They occupy almost a sort of cult status, treated more like minor celebrities than dangerous criminals. In the past few months, we have begun to witness a change in the Rogues and how they use their powers. Using extreme violence, threatening innocent civilians, and causing widespread property damage. Now it would appear that the Rogues have decided to take their reign of terror outside of our fair city. Reports have been rushing in about an incident that occurred just outside of Metropolis. It has now been confirmed that the Rogues were directly responsible for an event that caused the deaths of dozens of people. We take you now to a press conference, filmed earlier today, with the man who was able to determine that the Rogues were responsible, and even may have helped in stopping them from causing more devastation. We warn you now that some of the images presented are very graphic and unsuitable for young children. Now, to Mr. Lex Luthor."

Jonathan sees the screen switch from him to the prerecorded press conference. He has watched it three or four times now. Not because he can't believe what he is seeing, but because it was going to be huge. He had covered the Rogues for years now. And while it was odd that they seemed to have no reason for their attack or their sudden spike in violence, it didn't really matter.

All Jonathan needed was a good story. And Mr. Luthor was providing it.

Lex Luthor was a rather unassuming looking man. As most business moguls tended to be. He wore an impeccable three piece suit, no doubt costing more than Jonathan would make in a year. A large LexCorp insignia was prominently displayed on a video screen behind him. The conference took place in a meeting room at LexCorp headquarters in Metropolis. Jonathan had to respect a man who made the press come to him. Several reporters stood when Luthor entered, as if to start asking questions, but Mr. Luthor simply waved them down.

"As I'm sure you are now all aware, yesterday a group of criminals attacked a small suburb just outside of Metropolis. We don't have any information regarding why they chose to attack this area. Only that the effects were devastating. As of this time, the death toll caused by these terrorists has not yet fully been determined. But I can assure everyone who had family in the area that LexCorp will not rest until every body is recovered and identified."

Jonathan knew that the cops of Central City were often overwhelmed by the metahumans and couldn't respond appropriately to every crisis. Sounds like the cops of Metropolis were even less prepared if they were letting a business mogul run autopsies and body IDs.

"If it wasn't for the immediate response of prototype LexCorp anti-meta technology, it is difficult to say if the Rogues would have stopped at the destruction of just one town. Or if they would have continued their reign of terror."

Luthor pauses. This is Jonathan's favorite part. He's been in this game long enough, seen enough repentant politicians and murderers on screen talking about how they were innocent. They all had a tell. Something in their eyes that Jonathan could always detect the bullshit. He knows there is something more to this story, something about this anti-meta tech Luthor is hiding. He can sense the bullshit, but can't quite figure out which part of the speech it belongs to.

"I know that there are those who say that this behavior is not typical for these small time thugs. That they are nothing more than bank robbers and thieves. That their past crimes do not show any hint of such destruction. I know they have even on one occasion, helped the police deal with an even larger threat. But does the acclimation of power suddenly absolve you of the lives you have destroyed? Does one moment of charity, or heroism, allow us to ignore all the people they have killed? I have been working with the police to gather evidence that proves that these criminals have been secretly building up their powers for the past several months. That they have been working towards this…viciousness all along. By now you are all aware that the leader of the Rogues, Leonard Snart, has somehow managed to give himself metahuman abilities."

A large television screen behind Luthor begins to play footage of Snart freezing the Cadmus building in Central, and then threatening to kill the Flash. It appears to have been taken directly from Axel Walker's Twitter feed. Jonathan smiles, he's seen that video himself a dozen times, they aired it on the nightly news the day it happened. It's still incredibly impressive to watch.

Captain Cold had never even hinted at being a metahuman. There were rumors that he had been one all along, that he had been hiding it. Of course, there were also those claims that Walker had made about a huge conspiracy and metas being kidnapped. Jonathan couldn't decide which of those was the more outlandish. For the Rogues, it could really go either way.

"We believe that Mr. Snart and his associates were working in conjunction with black market dealers who trade in this sort of reckless pseudo science. That they have used incredibly dangerous and unethical procedures to give themselves these abilities. It would appear that yesterday, Mr. Snart wanted to test the full extent of his new powers."

The screen behind Luthor now shows Snart standing in the middle of a freezing spiral of wind. It looks like some kind of security video, and only lasts a few seconds. Snart is barely visible. But there's no doubt it's him. Freezing the ground and the trees. You can even see people on the edges of the camera. It looks like they are frozen in place.

"Thankfully, the Rogues chose to do this on a Sunday morning when many people were in church. Who knows how many untold casualties would have occurred if they had chosen a Saturday afternoon. When that park would have been full of children. Or if they had done it closer to the school that is only three miles away. What if they had decided they didn't want to let their little practice end? For all we know, this was but a test run for a much larger attack. Clearly, the Rogues have decided to escalate. All criminals do, it is ingrained in their very DNA. They feed on the rush, on the destruction, and all they want is more. We all saw the video posted to Axel Walker's account. The Rogues have threatened to kill anyone who stands against them. Mr. Walker himself even claimed that they are not done causing havoc and destruction. And yet they take no responsibility for their actions."

"Mr. Walker claims that a company known as Cadmus was responsible, concocting ridiculous stories of kidnappings, and barbaric experimentations. These statements are but a diversion. Cadmus is a legitimate scientific company. I know this because LexCorp acquired Cadmus technologies ten years ago. And since then, they have become a multibillion dollar industry. It is a company with millions of dollars in charitable donations to STEM programs across the country. And yet these Rogues attacked Cadmus and Cadmus subsidiaries without provocation, with no clear reason. They have created a convoluted story about conspiracies in an effort to cover up their own crimes. Attempting to push the blame onto someone else."

Ok, Jonathan takes it back. This is his favorite part. He had to admit, the first time he watched the videos, he had been legitimately shocked. Shocked in a way he hadn't been since he learned people could run faster than the speed of light. Axel Walker had been an excellent PR man for the Rogues. Using his Twitter feed to change the public's perception of them. From dangerous criminals, to outsiders who stole from the man. Turning their crimes into social events and water cooler conversation. People discussed a Rogue heist in the same breath as the last episode of Game of Thrones.

The Rogues had fooled everybody. Hell, there were damn action figures of these assholes.

"What I am about to show you is extremely graphic but I feel the people have a right to know just how dangerous these criminals are. They are not a harmless group of thugs, their crimes are not something that can be swept under the rug. We need to remove this misconception that they are people to look up to, anti-heroes fighting back against the establishment. They are vicious killers and nothing more."

The screen behind Luthor starts playing a video. It's a compilation of clips. Jonathan doesn't even want to know how Luthor got this tape. How much money and blackmail and underhanded deals went to get it. He knows there's no way Luthor could have gotten some of this legitimately.

He couldn't care less to be honest.

This was just damn fine television.

"Most of what I am about to show you has never been released to the public. Up until now, the true extent of the Rogues powers and their crimes, have been kept under wraps. In fact, I believe that there are those in the government and law enforcement that have helped to cover up these crimes. This is a video of the Rogues destroying an apartment complex. Two buildings were completely destroyed in less than half an hour. It has since been determined that these buildings were owned by a man named Rickard Jones. Someone the Rogues had a grudge against. We can only assume that the Rogues, and most notably, the arsonist and explosives expert Mick Rory, was responsible for planting these explosives. When Mr. Jones tried to defend his establishment, the Rogues killed him and all of his men."

Security footage from the roof of one of the buildings shows the Rogues taking on a group of heavily armed men. Shawna Baez drops one off the side of a building. His body crushes the top of a parked car. Digger Harkness runs up and slits a man's throat from behind. Mark Mardon hits Jones with a bolt of lightening. His body convulses on the ground, smoke rising from his eyes.

"The reason that this was covered up by ARGUS is unknown. Perhaps it is because the people that the Rogues killed were criminals as well. Drug dealers that no one would miss. Perhaps it is because, Digger Harkness, is a former member of ARGUS. It could be that this was a sanctioned hit by the black ops group. ARGUS has refused to answer any of the questions we have posed to them regarding their connection to this event."

"This video is several years old and yet, I cannot find any sort of police report on what happened at these buildings. The Rogues have been systematically taking out crime families, drug dealers, and other metahumans, removing anyone who stands against them. Their so-called heroic saving of the police, attacking another group that involved the serial killer James Jesse, was nothing more than a way for them to eliminate the competition. The fact that Axel Walker joined them after this "fight" brings into question as to whether or not it was simply all a charade. A way to get the cops to look the other way. I have noticed that the Rogues are often dealt with by a select few members of the CCPD. The came officers who seem to have a hard time keeping the Rogues in custody."

"The Rogues have developed a choke hold on the criminal underworld. There is no one left to oppose them, to challenge their territory. One of the most ridiculous lies that people believe is that these terrorists have some sort of code. That they do not kill. That they do not hurt the innocent. This is categorically untrue. The Rogues have left a trail of bodies in their wake. These next videos were all recorded in the last few months. And they prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Rogues are nothing more than killers."

The screen switches to Digger Harkness entering a hallway. He kills six guards in seconds. Slitting their throats and stabbing them with his boomerangs. Then he kills two unarmed doctors in a nearby room. The doctors even had their hands in the air, but he showed them no mercy. The next clip is of Lisa Snart killing four similar looking guards. They must have been at the same building. Two of the armored men she encased in gold. The other two she stabbed to death with a knife she pulled from her boot. Then a clip of Mick Rory using his gun to set two men in suits on fire. They're in some kind of house, there is smoke almost completely obscuring the scene. But you can clearly see Rory just standing there and watching them burn.

The last clip is of Roy Bivolo. It shows him walking down a hallway, then entering a darkened room. Two guards come running down the hall. You can't see Bivolo on the screen. But everyone knows how his powers work. He doesn't have to touch you. The two men begin to rip each other a part. It is, hands down, one of the most violent scenes imaginable.

Jonathan sees several of the younger interns turning away from the screen. One even rushes to a nearby trash can.

"How many innocent people have they killed? How many mothers and fathers never went home to their children? These people were simply doing their jobs, hired to protect a businesses, and the Rogues slaughtered them. We don't know the exact number of dead. We can only see what these security cameras have managed to capture. How many other dead bodies are out there? These dangerous terrorists should not be allowed to walk the streets. They should not be allowed to slip through the fingers of the police, and the so-called superheroes. There must be more…permanent solutions."

"Over the past few months, my team and I have been working towards finding a way stop these threats. We believe we have finally found that solution, and thanks to our new partnership with the US military, we can begin to deploy it. We have developed a technique that will permanently remove these extra ordinary powers that were forced upon so many people. Once the Rogues have been captured, their powers will be stripped from them, and they will be placed in maximum security prisons."

"There are those who might argue that we have no right to remove these powers from these people against their will. To that I say, were they not given them in the same way? They have these abilities because of a twist of fate. Criminals who do not care about the lives of others. How are we supposed to keep our families safe when they are capable of things like this?"

An aerial view of Central City is shown. The city is completely surrounded by tornadoes. There are shots of people running in the streets. Blind fear causing them to trample each other in an effort to find somewhere safe to hide. Jonathan remembers that day. Remembers thinking it looked like what he always imagined the end of the world would be like.

"One man did this. One man created dozens of tornadoes that could have wiped out all of Central City. Mark Mardon could have killed millions of people without breaking a sweat. We have to assume that the only reason that didn't happen was because of the timely intervention of the Flash. Somehow the Flash must have stopped Mr. Mardon from destroying Central. But what about next time? What about the metas who can create earthquakes? Who can use mind control? Who can blink your family out of existence in a single moment?"

The next video is the coup de grace. People could write off the murders. Could explain that the Rogues were somehow just defending themselves. Could make up a dozen explanations for what they saw on those videos.

But not this one.

It's a cell phone video, a little shaky but unmistakable. Digger Harkness, Mark Mardon, Roy Bivolo, and Shawna Baez are seen walking out of a suburban home. Harkness has a girl in his arms. The girl looks like she's unconscious or that she has been drugged. Then suddenly, the Rogues vanish. And they take the little girl with them. The video is replaced by a picture of that same girl, her school photo no doubt. She has a little pink butterfly clip in her hair, and she's smiling.

"Her name is Susan Whitford. Susie to her parents. She likes dolphins and science fairs. She wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up. Her favorite doll is a stuffed horse named Roger. The Rogues walked into the Whitford's home, kidnapped their little girl, and then disappeared. They have yet to make any demands for the girl's safety. Her parents are here today and will be speaking directly after me. I have spoken with the Whitfords and they have confessed that their daughter had started to exhibit…abilities. It can only be assumed that the Rogues kidnapped this girl for those abilities. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Susie please call the special hotline at the bottom of the screen."

"I know there are many metahumans out there that don't use their powers for evil. Those that never wanted what happened to them and are simply trying to live out the rest of their lives quietly. You will also be able to take advantage of this new procedure. All you have to do is tell the police that you are a metahuman and that you wish to have your powers removed. The police will contact LexCorp, and we will be there to help you return to the life you lost when the particle accelerator exploded. There is no way of knowing how many people have these abilities. Or how many latent powers may still be yet to present themselves. But make no mistake my friends. We at LexCorp Technologies are working hard to protect you and your families from these menaces. We will find the Rogues and we will remove their powers. Permanently. They think that their powers, that their weapons, give them the right to do whatever they want. Well that ends now. LexCorp will use whatever means are at its disposal to end their reign of terror."

"Once their powers are removed, each Rogue will be placed in a separate maximum security prison. Under constant guard and watch. LexCorp subsidiaries own several prisons across the county and all of the latest technologies will be put in place to keep these dangerous criminals from ever escaping again. However, there is only so much that we can do. We need your help. It is likely that most of you were unaware of just how deranged the Rogues were, that you didn't know about their vicious cruelty. But now you do. Now you must help us bring them to justice. Now you must help us find them so that we can rescue little Susie Whitford. So that we can stop them before they kill again. But perhaps there are those out there that still think the Rogues are innocent. That these videos have been doctored in some way. I can assure you that they are not. That is why I will be releasing the originals of all of these videos so that you can be sure of their authenticity. They have not been altered. But I am willing to go one step further in my commitment to catching the Rogues. That is why, I am offering a 10,000 dollar reward to anyone who provides information as to the whereabouts of the Rogues. And 50,000 dollars to anyone whose information directly leads to the capture of these criminals."

"There will be nowhere on this planet that the Rogues will be able to hide. We will find them and they will be brought to justice. Thank you."  
Jonathan had started adjusting his tie towards the end of Luthor's speech. Making sure his hair was perfectly in place. The cameraman points at him when the video switches back.

"Ladies and Gentleman, you have seen the evidence presented against the terrorists known as the Rogues. If you will remember, many of them have already had trials and were sentenced for their crimes. They are dangerous fugitives. We can no longer treat them as if they are entertainment. If you have any information, please contact the police or the number provided by Mr. Luthor. WXAN is committed to helping find the Rogues and to recovering Susan Whitford. Therefore, that number will be displayed at the bottom of the screen during every program on this channel, at all hours of the day. If you see something suspicious, whether it be the Rogues, or any other metahuman threat, it is your duty to report it. Together we can end the terror that has loomed over our city for far too long. Together we will stand up to these murderers and take back our city."

He was definitely going to win an award for this. Could even be his chance at a national gig. People were going to talk about this broadcast for years. He would replay those clips of the Rogues as many damn times as he had to until he got the recognition he deserved. He might even have to dig through his old shows, see if he could edit some clips together showing he had been against the Rogues from the start. That he had warned everyone of the danger even then.

The Rogues going on a killing spree was the best damn thing that had ever happened to him.

"And now on to the weather."

* * *

Mardon clicked the tv off. Roy was slightly surprised that they had made it through the entire news conference without Mark throwing the remote through the tv screen. Roy found he was having difficulty mustering up the anger he knew he should be feeling. He should be screaming at the injustice of it all. Raging at how thoroughly screwed they were. But instead this odd feeling of apathy seemed to have settled into him.

Mark seemed to be in the same mood. His voice had no hint of anger or disbelief. Just a weary resignation.

"Snart was right. That asshole played us."

Roy supposed he found some comfort in the idea that Snart had been right. Not that it mattered, but it felt a little bit like normalcy so Roy was willing to hold on to it.

"Who was that?"

"Lex Luthor. Some billionaire asshole."

"Seems to really hate us."

"Doesn't everybody?"

Another normal idea to latch onto. The Rogues against the world.

Though it would appear to be more literal this time.

"Guys, guys, guys, I figured it out."

Axel came bounding down the stairs and ran into the living room. He was holding a tablet in his hands. Whatever feelings of apathy and resignation Roy and Mark may have been feeling, it did not seem to be affecting Axel. The boy was still bursting with barely contained energy.

Of course that could be due to the stash of Mountain Dew the boy had been all but mainlining the last few days.

"Keep your voice down Axel."

Axel snuck a quick look over his shoulder. The mansion they were staying in was large. The living room they were currently in was bigger than most of Roy's apartments. There were dozens of rooms. And yet they all seemed to be sticking rather closely to the main entrance area. They had laid Mick on the couch when they had returned, intending to move him to one of the bedrooms. But then everyone just sort of started sleeping in the living room and dining room. Not willing to be out of each other's sights.

Shawna was kneeling next to Mick. Checking his bandages. There were spots of blood seeping onto the white. His hands were wrapped with layer upon layer of bandages. Half of his face was still covered, only one eye peeking out under the mass of reddened and bruised skin.

Mick had yet to fully regain consciousness. His eye had opened once or twice and he had mumbled a few times. But between the bandages and his injuries it was impossible to know what had been said.

Roy turns his attention back to Axel. The kid is honest to god tiptoeing the rest of the way over to Roy and Mark. His arms up in that weird T-Rex pose that people in silent films used to do when they had to act out walking silently.

Roy wondered if Axel even knew who Charlie Chaplin was.

"We all saw the news…"

Axel's stage whisper was louder than Roy's normal speaking voice.

"No I mean, yea, that dude just literally spelled everything out in black and white and like WTF mate? I should sue him for using my Twitter video. Anyway, I mean like with Cadmus. You know how we never could find anyone at the top?"

Cold had been sitting in the dining room while Mark had the news report on. Roy had spared a glance at their leader during the broadcast, the man must have heard everything that was said.

It was strange.

Cold wasn't looking over plans. Wasn't reading up on Luthor. Wasn't trying to find out every connection the man had. Since they had returned the man had been…oddly still.

At first, Roy had assumed it had to do with the fact that Snart's powers were completely overtaxed. Being pushed to your limits with your powers never felt good. But to have it done against your will must have been worse.

But now he didn't wonder if it was something else. Some other thing that was occupying Snart's mind.

The man was wearing the suppression collar again. Roy doubted the man would ever take it off.

Snart had gotten up from the table and entered the room when Axel had come bounding down the stairs.

"Luthor must have planted all the evidence we found relating to Cadmus. Faking all the records for the company."

"Yea, except he didn't do it like last week or last month or even last year. He did it like three years ago."

"Right after the particle accelerator exploded."

"Not just right after, but literally the day after. Cadmus was a subsidiary of LexCorp that's true, but all they did was make like beakers and shit. Then they get split into a separate company three years ago. No more connection to LexCorp which is why we didn't see it. But Luthor himself is overseeing a lot of their research and development projects. And their first big contract is with the US military. Made news back in the day. Like hundreds of millions of dollars."

Axel pulls up an article on his tablet. Snart glances at it for moment before snatching the device out of Axel's hands.

"Dude what…"

"Son of a bitch."

Roy and Mark move so that they can see the tablet as well.

"What is it?"

Snart zooms in on the picture, Roy can just make out the face of the man standing behind Luthor.

"General Collins."

Snart considers the picture for a moment, then hands the tablet back to Axel.

"Luthor created Brick wall."

"Ding ding ding! Exactamundo. Looks like you guys have been going up against this dude for years and didn't even know it. That meta must have been his first prototype. But the government revoked the contract after you axed his metahuman toy and that General dude he had brokered the deal with went all crazy."

Snart paces around the living room for a few moments.

"Brick Wall must have been planned to be the first of many enhanced soldiers. Collins probably used his position to get Luthor to give him upgrades that would specifically work against us. Luthor must not have known about Collin's vendetta. And when his prototype was killed then taken by ARGUS, he no longer had access to his first experiment. Luthor sat back and waited. Waited until we were more well known outside of the city. Waited until he could monitor our movements better. Then he set up all these kidnappings."

"Wait you're saying this dude, kidnapped everybody and did all these experiments, just to get back at the Rogues?"

"No. This wasn't about revenge. He's a businessman. He needed a way to expedite his process, to be able to mass produce metahumans. Either so he could sell them to the US Army. Or he could use them to spread fear so he could sell his anti-meta technology. Either way he would come out on top. We were just the fall guys. To show the world that metas are too dangerous. That the government needs their own meta human soldiers. Not just superheroes they can't control. Ones they can trigger or shut down with the switch of a button. We are the most well known and visible meta-human villains. That's why he chose us."

Roy tenses at the sound of door opening. But relaxes when he sees Lisa and Digger enter the hallway.

Lisa sits down at the dining room table and pulls out a newspaper. Digger lingers near the entryway.

"We are at the top of the FBI's, Interpol, and every other government agencies' most wanted lists. Our faces, the phone number, the photo of the little girl. They're everywhere, on every paper, on every television. If we get killed, Luthor wins. If we get captured, he gets to experiment on us again. Damn man rigged the game so that no matter what we do, he wins."

Only Lisa and Digger had left the mansion since the Rogues managed to escape. They were both non-metas, and therefore could move without having to worry anti-meta tech being able to find traces of their powers. They had both worn disguises and had taken every precaution not to be seen.

Digger was the only one with contacts who might not care about the Rogues being suspected terrorists. The only one who might know people who might look the other way to let the Rogues escape the country.

Snart looks at Digger.

"Any luck?"

"Turns out, shady bastards who don't care if you're a terrorist are the same kind of bastards who will turn you in for 50k. And any of my less disreputable sources are already distancing themselves. Don't want to get caught up in the inevitable shit storm that's about to rain down."

Snart looks at Lisa and Digger. At the paper spread out on the table. Their faces plastered on the front page. Pictures of the destruction of Evergreen Acres. The body count.

Roy wondered how many innocent people had been caught up in it. Had there been any people in that place that weren't clones? Hapless idiots who didn't realize that all their neighbors looked slightly the same.

Lisa seems to sense a change in Snart's demeanor. Roy can't see anything but he doesn't doubt Lisa's instincts about her brother. She stands up from the table and walks towards him.

"Lenny…"

Snart takes a step backwards.

"We have to move. Now."

Mardon shares a glance with Roy. Roy understands Snart's desire to get as far away from this place as possible, but so far this hideout is the safest place they've got. Metropolis is basically on lockdown. There are patrols everywhere. If they wait a few more days, the cops might assume that they have already escaped the city and would expand their search area. Then they could sneak out when the patrols have moved out farther.

"You sure about that Snart? We head out now..."

Digger interrupts Mardon.

"Actually, that might be a good idea. I got a ping on the Trojan horse I uploaded into Hartley's phone. Seems like they are looking in this area for us. Must have used government satellites to triangulate our position after the dust up. Figuring out all the possible locations we could have gone. I've got the program running still on the computer, so if…"

Axel looks up from where he had been suspiciously poking at the newspaper.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up...you know how to use a computer?"

Digger slaps Axel on the back of the head.

"I was an ARGUS agent you bloody infant."

Cold suddenly jerks his head towards Digger.

"And a member of Task Force X...we have to go now."

"What? What does that..."

"Hartley is the one who disabled the bomb in your neck. And there was a damn GPS tracker in it. If he turns it back on..."

Digger rubs the back of his neck.

"Knew I should have found a doctor to rip the damn thing out."

"We will find a way to do that later. Axel see if you can find out if they have locked on to Digger's signal."

Axel pulls out his laptop and starts typing.

"Yea looks like Boomer's right. They're not on us yet, but they're circling pretty close. If his GPS was turned on they'd be right on top of us in an instant. I think they're just going with probabilities right now."

"And it won't take long for the Flash to check out all the possible places we could be. We move now."

They move quickly. Grabbing anything they might need. Not that they have much on them at the moment. Barely a couple thousand dollars between them. There are a few extra disguises they had brought in case they had to scope the place out a few days in a row.

Shawna is helping Mick get to his feet. Digger helps her get him up. Roy can't tell if Mick is conscious or not, if he has any idea what is happening around him. Shawna had been giving the man a steady stream of morphine for the pain. Mick seems to be at least somewhat awake. Managing to take on some of his own weight so that Digger and Shawna aren't crushed.

"We can't use any of our old safe houses. Our faces are going to be everywhere, the Flash will be helping with the search no doubt. They will have facial recognition, satellite tracking...we need to split up."

"Lenny..."

"Can't be helped sis. All of us together will be too easy to spot. Roy, Axel, Mark, I want the three of you to find a car and just start driving. Don't tell us where, just pick a place any of you have never been and head there. Lisa, you and Mick and Shawna are going to do the same. Digger and I will find our way out of the city using the harbor."

"Like hell."

"Lisa, he and I both have potential problems with being tracked. If Luthor put a tracker in me when he did experiments then they could be here any minute. If Digger's goes active, then at least we will be found by the Flash first and..."

"Don't act like I don't know the real reason you're taking Digger with you Lenny."

There was a pause. A moment of tension between the two siblings. Roy could feel the air in the room become instantly thick.

They all knew why Snart wanted Digger to go with him. Why he insisted on having the mercenary by his side.

Because if it came to it, and Snart's powers were triggered again…

Digger was the one who would be able to do what needed to be done.

Without hesitating.

"There isn't a better way, sis."

"No, there isn't. There's a shittier way. And that is the plan we are going with."

"Lisa we have..."

"Screw that. We are not splitting up again. We are not letting these bastards pick us off one by one. We are not going to end up locked away, hoping that one of us made it. Not again. From now on, we stick together. No matter what the hell they throw at us. Either we all escape together...or we all go out together."

Snart didn't look happy about that statement. He glanced back towards the rest of them. They were all standing in the living room. Their meager possessions in two or three duffle bags at their feet. Snart's eyes go to Mardon first.

"I'm with Lisa."

Snart glares at Mardon's response. Roy smirks. Snart assumed that Mardon would be against this plan. Wouldn't want to die in a blaze of glory for some ridiculous concept like loyalty.

Shawna shifted a little bit of Mick's weight but she looked Snart dead in the eyes.

"We all are."

"Technically, she's still the boss so..."

Even Axel didn't appear to have any doubts.

The rest of them didn't need to say anything. They were all in agreement.

"Well then, guess I've been outvoted."

Roy released a small breath. The Rogues were united in this.

They watched each other's backs.

Until the end.

And that end may very well be tonight.

Snart turned back towards Lisa, the familiar smirk now carefully back in place.

"So how do we get all of us out of the city...boss?"

Lisa smiled sweetly.

"We are going to walk right out."

"Um won't everyone like see us?"

"Not the path we are going to take. How are you powers feeling brother?"

"I can't feel them at all."

"Perfect." Lisa bends down and opens one of the bags. She pulls out her brother's cold gun. "I brought this along as a good luck charm. Looks like you're going to need it after all."

"They can track our weapons if we use them."

"Well then we are just going to have to make sure they can't see what's happening until it's too late. Mardon, I want torrential downpours. Covering the entire city. No one is to be able to see a few inches in front of them. Lenny, you are going to use your gun to freeze the river. You and Shawna are going to use the rain as cover. You'll start on the north end then jump around however you see fit. Make sure that the entire thing is frozen solid by the time you're done."

"If I up the output it shouldn't take more than a few seconds to freeze most of the river at each location."

"Good. The rest of us will head here, under the Clinton Bridge. That's where we will meet up. We will freeze the last of the water there. Mark can you create a localized gust of warm air? Enough to melt the ice just enough so that we can walk underneath it?"

There's a slight pause. It's not something that Mardon usually has to do. Mick would be the one to melt the ice. To get them underneath it quickly.

Roy pointedly doesn't look over at Mick. Doesn't look at the empty space where his holster and gun should be. Doesn't look at the bandages encasing Mick's hands. Doesn't think about what it means that Mick might not ever be able to hold his heat gun again.

Hold anything again.

Mardon nods slowly.

"I think I will be able to."

"Alright. Roy, I want you to use that calming look of yours on anyone who sees us. I want people to be almost catatonic. Yours are the only powers that can't be traced with satellites or whatever tech the Flash and his cronies come up with."

Roy nods.

"Everyone good on their part of the plan?"

Cold smiles.

"Good as gold."

They head towards the river in a stolen car. Mardon keeps the rain heavy, even around them. It would be rather suspicious to see one car not being affected by the rain.

It's a slow, arduous journey. Interspersed with brief moments of terror. Any time they pulled up beside a car at a light or at a stop sign, Roy would keep his eyes on the other driver. If they so much as glanced towards the car, he used his powers on them.

They pull up underneath the bridge. They wait for almost ten minutes before Snart and Shawna reappear. Shawna instantly disappears. Five minutes later she comes running around the other side of the bridge.

"Didn't want them to be tracking us and see this as the last place, should confuse them at least for a few minutes."

Lisa nods.

"Mardon."

Mark stands at the edge of the frozen river. He creates a small pocket of wind in his hands then pushes it towards the ice. Slowly, a hole in the ice starts to appear.

"Alright, everyone down. Mardon will keep that up until we reach the other side. Lenny, freeze the hole behind us as we go. Digger, Roy keep a hold of Mick. Axel, keep an eye on the police response and Hartley's tracker. Shawna be ready in case they are on to us. If we get cornered, everyone uses their powers. Got it?"

They all nod.

They slide down the hole until they are standing on the bottom of the river.

It's strange down in their man made tunnel. The water all around them is completely dark, the light from above barely able to penetrate the layers of ice. Roy turns at the sound of Snart's cold gun. He's closing them in. No way for anyone to follow them.

They moved slowly. Mardon using all his focus to create a wall of heat in front of them. He has to concentrate fully on it. There's barely enough space for Digger and Roy to help Mick move through. Roy choses not to focus on how closed in it all feels. He focuses on anything else.

Like how much trash there appears to be in the river. That's the second car they've passed frozen beside them. Roy doesn't want to think about what is in the water that is dripping down from the semi-melted ceiling above. It's running down his neck, and sending shocks of cold water down his back.

He could hear noises above them at first. Mardon had to stop the rain in order to focus on this aspect of his powers that he had never used. Roy heard car horns blaring. People getting out of their frozen boats and walking on the ice. Eventually the noises became quieter as they went further out. Now all Roy could hear was the soft breathing of Mick in his ear. And the sound of ice cracking in front of him.

It was slow going. Each of them trying to be quiet, not know what could be heard and what couldn't through the thick layer of ice. Not knowing if the Flash or any of the anti meta teams would be able to unfreeze the ice before they made it to the other side.

The water could crash down on them at any moment. Crushing them before they had so much as a chance to react. Dead before they even knew what had happened.

No one would ever find their bodies. This far below the water. People would think that the Rogues had escaped that they were simply never heard from again.

"Now what?"

Roy shook off the image of being crushed under tons of freezing cold water and looked towards where Mark was standing.

A wall.

They had made it to the other side.

"Start clearing a way up. Then Lenny will have to use his gun to make steps or hand holds for us to use."

Getting back up out of the ice was even more difficult. It took a lot of slipping and a great amount of cursing but eventually they managed to make it to the top.

Snart broke through the last few inches with a few well placed punches.

"All clear."

They pulled themselves out one by one.

"What the bloody hell do we do now?"

"We have to find somewhere to hide. We can't go back to Central or anywhere that people might know to look for us. We have to find somewhere new. All of our old safe houses are out, we have to assume Luthor knows about all of them."

Roy looked around. They were standing near an abandoned shopping center. There didn't appear to be any cars around. The bridge was several hundred yards away. They must have been moving at an angle under the ice. Mardon was sitting down on the concrete.

"So what, just pick a random country and hope for the best? You saw that report. The guy is offering cash to anyone who so much as takes a picture of us. Where the hell are we going to hide Snart?"

Snart looked at the assembled Rogues for a moment. Each of them now thinking about just how completely screwed they were.

Bounties on their heads. Wanted by every single law enforcement agency in this country and every other. Their faces were everywhere.

And if they did get caught, odds were they wouldn't…

"I know somewhere we can go..."

"Digger..."

"Listen up mates, there's this island. It's where ARGUS was keeping me and Deathstroke locked up back in the day. A black site for prisoners..."

"If it's an ARGUS black site..."

"Right, but it's a part of a chain of islands. There's a couple other abandoned ones right nearby."

"So we live on a deserted island for the rest of our lives. How the hell would we get food or…  
"Look at least I've got an idea, don't hear you coming up with anything Mardon."

Cold looked at the two arguing men. Their frustrations with the situation causing them to lash out at one another. Roy wondered how long it would be before someone got their first black eye.

"Alright, enough. Both of you. First things first, we need to get farther away from Metropolis. Then we can figure out where to hide for the long term."

"Wait that's it? We're just going to run away?" Axel glanced up from his tablet.

"Axel..."

"No man, this is bullshit. We're the Rogues and some d-bag just tried to kill us. I say now that we're out of the city they won't be expecting to go at Luthor. We should…"

"We should what Axel? What exactly is the plan? We were played. Luthor knows all of our moves, he's studied us. And now if we get caught going after him, people will think it was because of the press conference. We have no proof that Cadmus was behind any of this except for the word of a clone we no longer have access to, and files that we stole. Files that Luthor planted for us to find. The cops and anyone else who comes after us will not hesitate to kill us. We can't go after him now. Maybe not ever. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

Axel swallowed. Snart's voice had gotten progressively quieter and more dangerous as he went on.

"No man. Course not. Was just you know, like...wanting to do something..."

Snart released a breath.

"Luthor planned this for years. We don't know how wide his reach is. We have to find a place to lay low. Somewhere we can stay out of the public eye. At least long enough to figure out how much information Luthor has. The man has endless resources, and I'm guessing that if we try to access our bank accounts we will find them shut down."

There was this weight to Snart's words. An understanding amongst them that they were, for the first time, well and truly beaten. There was no back up plan. No way to fight back. To make the person responsible suffer. They had never gone up against such an enemy. Someone that could destroy them, without ever having to lift a finger. Was this really how the Rogues were going to go out? Not in some epic fight with a telepathic gorilla but by billionaire in a three piece suit looking to make a few bucks.

"I got some cash stored in a cabin in Montana."

Roy jerked slightly at the sound of Mick's voice. His voice was gruffer than normal and there was a definite slur to his words. But he lifted his head for the first time and there seemed to be a bit of clarity in his one visible eye. Snart moves closer to Mick.

"Montana?"

"Don't tell you everything."

"Does anyone…"

"No. Belonged to a guy I killed outside a bar during a fight. Found the place after I stole his car. The GPS took me straight there. Only went there two or three times. Ain't been back in ten years."

"Could have been sold by then."

"Hid his body pretty good. Nobody ever looked for him neither."

"Enough money to hide us?"

"Don't know. Might be."

Snart sighed.

"Well, that's going to have to be good enough."

Shawna starts checking Mick's bandages. All the moving around was clearly weighing on the injured man. Roy didn't know how Mick was even standing at this point. Mick's eye was already starting to close again. Digger braces himself as he suddenly finds himself supporting more of Mick's weight. Shawna turns to Lisa.

"They might be able to track us if we use our phones to hack live feeds so I can jump farther. Don't know if you want to risk it."

"No. No more powers."

The Rogues all turn towards Lisa.

"We know that the Flash can track your signals Shawna. We know they can figure out where Mark is using barometric pressure. They can track mine and Lenny's gun. They have satellites with facial recognition. The second any of us use our powers, they will be on us. From this point on, we don't use powers or our weapons for any reason. If we had time, I would insist on stealing more suppression cuffs. But we don't have the luxury. We are going to have to do this the old fashioned way from now on. No powers, no advanced weapons, no hacking into unhackable systems. Nothing that could give any sort of hint as to what direction we have gone."

Lisa pulls her gun. She walks over to a nearby dumpster, and after a moment of hesitation, she drops it inside. Cold walks over and does the same.

"Nothing that can be used to track us. Axel."

Axel looked at Lisa like she was asking him to cut out his own heart.

"Lisa, my moon and stars, please I…."

"Axel."

There was no give in Lisa's voice.

Axel made a small whimpering sound. Then he very, very begrudgingly dropped his tablet and cell phone into the dumpster.

Cold put a hand on Axel's shoulder when it looked like the kid might jump in the dumpster after them.

"Sorry kid. We all have to make sacrifices."

Lisa nods towards the others.

"This isn't going to be easy. There are thousands of cops between us and Montana. And there are millions of people looking to cash in on a picture of us. Hopefully some greedy bastards will Photoshop us into their photos and it will throw of any legitimate sightings. We stay hidden. We make it to Montana. Then we will figure out our next move."

Roy nodded along with the others.

This was going to be beyond difficult. Every single person they saw. Every person they drove past. Every traffic camera, every ATM camera. All it would take is one clear photo. And for that photo to be given to Luthor or the cops or the Flash and it would all be over.

Everything in Roy's experience said that it would be impossible. They were too recognizable. Especially traveling together. Especially since they were going to have to stop to get food and gas and medical supplies.

Someone was going to see them. They were going to get caught.

The odds were stacked against them.

But then again.

They always were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of this one. I honestly intended this to have a more definite ending and not lock myself into writing another one but here we are. I have the basic outline for the next one but I need to see if the show does anything else with Mirror Master and Top before I can continue. So it will be awhile. Special thanks to everyone who leaves comments, they help me when I start to lose motivation.


End file.
